WANDERERS left rueing missed chances and a bit of poor defending, we’ve seen this all before, haven’t we?

Like jumping in a time machine to 12 months ago the Whites find themselves rock bottom of the Championship and searching frantically for inspiration.

And it was a blast from the past, golden oldie Paul Robinson, who did the damage for Birmingham, taking advantage of some laughable defending to head home a first-half winner.

Wanderers improved dramatically after a limp first half and were desperately unlucky to see two shots hacked off the line my Michael Morrison.

But in what is becoming a depressingly familiar tale in these parts, they failed to make their superiority count, ruining an impressive home record in the process.

Lennon made two changes to the side that was beaten at Burnley, restoring Mark Davies to midfield for the injured Jay Spearing and bringing Emile Heskey in for his third start of the season, dropping Neil Danns to the bench.

The move to 4-4-2 hinted that the Wanderers boss wanted to go direct but the quality of service for both Heskey and Gary Madine in the first half proved to be poor in the extreme. It was frankly a directionless performance.

Just as they did at Turf Moor, the Whites had their chances to put a better spin on it. And it could have got off to a perfect start as Liam Feeney slashed one early shot just wide and then saw another beaten away at the near post by Tommy Kuszczak.

Around 15 minutes in, Wanderers and Birmingham City fans united in a minute’s applause for Zak Vali, son of Asif Vali, who recently passed away after a battle with cancer.

The touching show of support almost prompted a break in the deadlock as Darren Pratley scooped the ball just over the crossbar after Birmingham had failed to clear Feeney’s cross from the right.

But just when Wanderers appeared to have settled into their stride, the visitors snatched the lead.

Feeney gave away a very cheap free kick on the left with a trip on Andrew Shinnie, and when Gray whipped the ball in, none other than Paul Robinson was there to nod it home at the far post.

Lennon will be furious that none of his defending players attacked the ball as it skipped along Ben Amos’s penalty box, let alone the fact that 5ft 9ins ex-Wanderer Robinson was there to steer it home.

The 36-year-old never managed a single goal in two-and-a-half years at Bolton and barely knew where to put himself after his second in two games.

The goal brought about some moans of discontent from the home support and frustrations soon started to boil over elsewhere on the pitch as Wanderers struggled to regain their poise.

Dorian Dervite was lucky to stay on the pitch as he brought down Shinnie with a brainless challenge in a promising Birmingham counter attack, the Frenchman having only minutes later been awarded his first yellow card for tripping Gray.

Referee Geoff Eltringham steadily became the central figure as the half wore on – waving away a good penalty appeal when Wellington Silva appeared to be tripped by Paul Caddis and Paul Robinson.

Heskey also missed a chance to level the scores with a point-blank header from Jose Casado’s cross, aimed disappointingly straight at the Birmingham keeper.

Almost immediately from the restart you sensed Lennon’s night might get worse still as a clear foul on Casado was missed on the half-way line and Shinnie raided into the Whites’ penalty area, his shot eventually being pushed away by Amos.

Madine headed a corner from Casado over the crossbar before Michael Morrison produced two outstanding pieces of defending to block shots on his own line.

Feeney’s cross-shot had been palmed away by Kuszczak then driven in from an angle by Madine, but when the centre-half got in the way of his shot, he then did brilliantly to close down Pratley, who tried to place his own effort from the penalty spot.

Tensions were getting higher by the moment, not least in the technical area where Lennon’s over-exuberance got him a ticking off from referee Eltringham on the hour.

But the Wanderers boss will be disappointed how the game faded into obscurity. Youngster Kaiyne Woolery was brought on with 15 minutes left to try and inject some pace but Birmingham had recovered from their wobble by that time and saw the game out.

As for the future, one has to think that the result of Saturday’s game against Leeds United could be a potentially decisive one for Lennon and his side, who face being cut adrift at the foot of the Championship if this kind of wastefulness continues.

WANDERERS (4-4-2)

BEN AMOS...7

DERIK OSEDE...6

DAVID WHEATER...6.5

DORIAN DERVITE...5.5

JOSE MANUEL CASADO...6.5

LIAM FEENEY...5

MARK DAVIES...6

DARREN PRATLEY...5

WELLINGTON SILVA...5.5

EMILE HESKEY...5.5

GARY MADINE...6.5

Subs: Clayton 5, 42 (for Wellington), Danns 5, 67 (for Pratley), Woolery 75 (for Heskey)

Not used: Rachubka, Prince, Vela, Dobbie.

Birmingham: Kuszczak; Caddis, Morrison, Robinson, Grounds; Gleeson, Kieftenbeld, Gray, Shinnie; Maghoma, Donaldson.

Subs: Spector 73 (for Shinnie), Solomon-Otabor 85 (for Maghoma), Toral 88 (for Gray)

Not used: Legzdins, Brown, Lowry, Brock-Madsen.

Attendance: 13,703 (818)

Referee: Geoff Eltringham