New Blackburn boss John Eustace said he was happy with the work he did at Birmingham after his side were beaten 1-0 by his former club at St Andrew’s.

Andre Dozzell made the decisive breakthrough in the 77th minute to end City’s 388-minute drought to reward City’s dominance.

The dismissal of Eustace appeared harsh, as he was forced out having led the team to sixth place in the Sky Bet Championship.

Chief executive Garry Cook said Eustace’s ambitions were not aligned with the club’s.

Yet the 44-year-old’s replacement, Wayne Rooney, was sacked after winning just twice in 15 games as the club plummeted to 20th in the table.

“It was great to be back, I had 15 brilliant months here,” said Eustace.

“The most important thing was to not lose. That’s not a good feeling but I’m fully focused on Blackburn now and I wish Birmingham all the best.

“I have no hard feelings, it’s part and parcel of the job.

“If that wouldn’t have happened I wouldn’t have had this opportunity to be manager of Blackburn.

“I was very happy with the work I did, you could see the club grew and I left it in a much better position than when I came in.

“We were playing some really good football when I left so I was happy with the job I did.”

Asked if he was suitably ambitious, he answered: “I think results and performances showed that.”

As Eustace was talking about his time at St. Andrew’s, a supporter came into the media suite and shouted “They should never have got rid of you, John!”

Eustace replied to the assembled media: “Put that in your reports.”

Regarding the game, Eustace said: “It was disappointing. The lads battled really hard but we have to be better with the ball.”

Tony Mowbray’s side were good value for their first win in four matches, which saw them climb within a point of 16th-placed Rovers.

Marc Roberts hit the post and his namesake Tyler missed one-on-one chances in either half.

Eustace’s counterpart and former Blackburn manager Mowbray felt his team were good value for the win.

“It was an important, big, three points because you can’t keep having 23, 25 shots a game but keep getting beaten,” he said.

“We should have scored more goals and if we’d have got three or four it would have given us more confidence.

“I picked a team to show Blackburn that we were up for a fight because they can cut you open.

“Rather than the artists who can drag their foot over the ball, I played the grafters and chasers but the substitutes impacted the game pretty well too.”

Dozzell spared City’s blushes when he poked home after he and Adam Stansfield had shots blocked, before Cody Drameh’s cross fell back into his path off Kyle McFadzean’s foot.

New Blackburn boss John Eustace made a losing return to St Andrew’s as his side were beaten 1-0 by former club Birmingham.

Andre Dozzell struck the only goal of the Sky Bet Championship contest in the 77th minute to end City’s 388-minute drought and reward their dominance.

Tony Mowbray’s side were good value for their first win in four matches, which saw them climb to within a point of 16th-placed Rovers.

Marc Roberts hit the post and his namesake Tyler also missed two one-on-one chances for the hosts.

Eustace, who watched Saturday’s 3-1 win at Stoke from the stands, was back in the familiar surroundings after his sacking as City head coach in October.

Birmingham’s former Rovers boss Mowbray did not get the chance to enjoy any pre-match pleasantries with 44-year-old Eustace as the City manager was forced to take a seat in the stands, banned for receiving three yellow cards.

Koji Miyoshi blotted his copybook when he sized up a shooting chance after a Blues corner was partly cleared, slicing horribly wide.

However the Japan attacking midfielder got his next involvement right, threading through Tyler Roberts – only for the striker to steer the ball wide when clean through with only goalkeeper Aynsley Pears to beat.

Roberts’ namesake Marc went even closer to breaking the deadlock in the 35th minute. The towering defender, lingering upfield following a corner, clipped the outside of the post with a glancing header from Miyoshi’s hanging cross.

Little had been seen of Sammie Szmodics until the 22-goal Blackburn marksman lifted a rising effort narrowly over the bar from the edge of the box.

Szmodics forced John Ruddy into his first save when he tried to catch the veteran keeper out with a quick first-time effort which the former Wolves man palmed around the post.

Birmingham then wasted two chances in quick succession. After Marc powered a header over from close range from Dozzell’s free-kick, Tyler Roberts skied high and wide from six yards out after Pears completely mishit a pass to leave him one-on-one.

The hosts lost their momentum and Mowbray made a double switch, bringing Juninho Bacuna and Siriki Dembele on for Paik Seung-ho and Miyoshi.

Dembele flashed a rising angled effort over the bar after Tyler Roberts teed him up deep inside the box.

Dozzell spared City’s blushes when he finally poked home 13 minutes from time.

The scrappy goal came after Dozzell and Adam Stansfield had shots blocked before Cody Drameh’s cross fell back into his path off Kyle McFadzean’s foot.

QPR have sacked manager Gareth Ainsworth following defeat to Sky Bet Championship leaders Leicester on Saturday.

Goalscorer Andre Dozzell was sent off before Harry Winks inflicted a sixth straight loss which spelled the end of former Rangers midfielder Ainsworth’s reign.

CEO Lee Hoos told the club’s website: “Making a call such as this is never easy. Many supporters have told me in recent months that they have never wanted someone to succeed more than Gareth, which is an indication of the fondness everyone associated with QPR has for him.

“Unfortunately, results this season haven’t gone the way we all wanted and we feel a change is necessary.

“Gareth has been a pleasure to work with from the moment he arrived and I am truly sorry this has not worked out as we all had hoped.”

After Stephy Mavididi opened the scoring on the half-hour, Dozzell equalised shortly before the interval – but the midfielder was dismissed early in the second half for two quick cautions.

Abdul Fatawu reacted angrily to a challenge from Dozzell, who raised a hand towards the Leicester winger and was shown a first yellow card for the foul followed swiftly by another for the retaliation.

Rangers battled hard but Leicester made their numerical advantage count with 10 minutes left when Winks rifled in a right-footed strike for his first goal since moving from Tottenham.

Speaking before his departure, Ainsworth bemoaned his side’s “naivety” after they had a man sent off for the second successive match.

It came after Jimmy Dunne was dismissed during the midweek defeat at West Brom, also for picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.

“Naivety has cost us again. It’s cost us over the past two games,” Ainsworth said.

“Out of the four bookings that have cost us two red cards, I think there’s only one legitimate foul in there and the rest has been just stupidity.

“Andre has reacted just as Fatawu wanted him to. The referee has no choice but to give a second yellow.

“We had a plan put in place that I think was working, but again you need 11 men, especially against the top-of-the-league team.

“I thought there were some superb performances for us. There wasn’t much in the game at all until Andre falls for the trick of gamesmanship from Fatawu.

“Andre has to learn from that. It was always going to be tough after that. It still took a world-class goal to beat us.”

Leicester boss Enzo Maresca insisted there must be no let-up from his side after they maintained their commanding lead at the top of the table.

The Foxes are five points clear of second-placed Ipswich and 14 clear of Leeds, seemingly on course for an immediate return to the top flight in Maresca’s first season at the helm.

The Italian coach, though, warned against any sense of complacency.

“We have just one problem: we are still in October. I would like to still be in the same position in February, March and April,” he said.

“You can lose a game for many reasons, but for sure you can lose a game if you have a drop in intensity. We know that because we always mention that.

“As long as we remain with the same intensity then we can win more games than we lose.

“But the players deserve it. The way they work on the ball and off the ball, they make an unbelievable effort. They are open-minded and fantastic.”

Leicester boss Enzo Maresca insisted there must be no let-up from his side after a 2-1 win at QPR maintained their commanding lead at the top of the Sky Bet Championship.

The Foxes are five points clear of second-placed Ipswich and 14 clear of Leeds, seemingly on course for an immediate return to the top flight in Maresca’s first season at the helm.

The Italian coach, though, warned against any sense of complacency.

“We have just one problem: we are still in October. I would like to still be in the same position in February, March and April,” he said.

“You can lose a game for many reasons, but for sure you can lose a game if you have a drop in intensity. We know that because we always mention that.

“If you come here, against this team, after their five (defeats) in a row, and you drop a little bit in terms of intensity, then they will beat us for sure.

“As long as we remain with the same intensity then we can win more games than we lose.

“But the players deserve it. The way they work on the ball and off the ball, they make an unbelievable effort. They are open-minded and fantastic.”

After Stephy Mavididi opened the scoring on the half-hour, Andre Dozzell equalised shortly before the interval – but the midfielder was dismissed early in the second half for two quick cautions following a foul and his reaction.

Rangers, who have lost six matches in a row and remain one off the bottom of the table, battled hard.

Leicester, though, made their numerical advantage count with 10 minutes left when Harry Winks rifled in a right-footed strike for his first goal since moving from Tottenham.

QPR boss Gareth Ainsworth bemoaned his side’s “naivety” after they had a man sent off for the second successive match.

Abdul Fatawu reacted angrily to a challenge from Dozzell, who raised a hand towards the Leicester winger and was shown a first yellow card for the foul followed swiftly by another for the retaliation.

It came after Jimmy Dunne was dismissed during the midweek defeat at West Brom, also for picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.

“Naivety has cost us again. It’s cost us over the past two games,” Ainsworth said.

“Out of the four bookings that have cost us two red cards, I think there’s only one legitimate foul in there and the rest has been just stupidity.

“Andre has reacted just as Fatawu wanted him to. The referee has no choice but to give a second yellow.

“We had a plan put in place that I think was working, but again you need 11 men, especially against the top-of-the-league team.

“I thought there were some superb performances for us. There wasn’t much in the game at all until Andre falls for the trick of gamesmanship from Fatawu.

“Andre has to learn from that. It was always going to be tough after that. It still took a world-class goal to beat us.”

Rangers’ spirited performance perhaps eased the pressure on Ainsworth, who remains convinced they will avoid relegation.

However, a defeat away to fellow strugglers Rotherham next weekend would put further focus on his future.

“I am proud of that performance. I can hold my head up high and say we gave absolutely everything,” Ainsworth said.

“As long as that keeps happening we’ll amass enough points to stay in this division.”