Wayne Rooney collected his first win as Birmingham manager after a 2-1 comeback win against the Sky Bet Championship’s bottom club Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrew’s.

Substitute Jordan James’s grabbed the 82nd-minute winner after Juninho Bacuna’s 48th-minute equaliser cancelled out George Byers’s opener four minutes earlier.

Victory was Rooney’s first win in English football since April last year when his Derby side won 2-0 at Blackpool, while new Wednesday boss Danny Rohl has now lost five of his first six games.

Birmingham bounced back after the break after Wednesday had been the better side in the first half.

Wednesday started better and the lively Mallik Wilks dispossessed goalkeeper John Ruddy before firing just wide.

The hosts’ first chance came when Bacuna unleashed a 25-yard drive that was deflected inches off target by Bambo Diaby.

But they struggled to create opportunities for the rest of the half as Wednesday pinned them back.

Birmingham seemed to be their own worst enemies and they conceded three consecutive corners, Lee Buchanan heading behind the second one after Ruddy was unable to get a firm hand to the ball.

Birmingham’s hearts were in their mouths when referee Rebecca Welch put her whistle to her lips after Josh Windass fell in the penalty area as Ethan Laird closed him down.

But, instead of blowing for a penalty, she booked the forward for diving, replays confirming the simulation.

Wednesday continued to threaten and Windass missed their best chance to date when he side-footed wide from Barry Bannan’s cross.

Birmingham were frustrated by two Wednesday challenges which resulted in bookings – Wilks for body-checking Ethan Laird after he was nutmegged then Bannan for bringing down Siriki Dembele.

The goal Wednesday had been threatening came in the 44th minute when Windass’s superb curling free-kick hit the post and Byers tapped home the rebound for his first since February.

But the visitors’ lead lasted just three minutes before Bacuna equalised with a half volley from 22 yards after Wednesday failed to clear Koji Miyoshi’s corner, with Dominic Iorfa and Akin Famewo getting faint touches.

Birmingham improved after the restart and Jay Stansfield’s angled drive was deflected wide off Diaby, before Buchanan curled his shot over the bar.

Blues remained on top and Dembele’s half volley brushed the side-netting.

Nothing had been seen of Wednesday’s attack until the hour until Marvin Johnson’s shot on the turn, but the substitute’s effort sailed straight at Ruddy.

But James turned into something of a super-sub when he scored the winner just four minutes after replacing Bacuna.

The Wales international rounded goalkeeper Cameron Dawson to tap home the winner when his first shot had been blocked following Stansfield’s cross.

A controversial penalty proved to be the turning point as Birmingham came from behind to beat West Brom 3-1 at St. Andrew’s.

Cedric Kipre’s clumsy lunge on Koji Miyoshi was deemed a spot-kick by referee James Linington and Juninho Bacuna equalised in the 23rd minute.

From that moment, John Eustace’s side did not look back and Dion Sanderson headed Blues in front in the 38th minute before substitute Gary Gardner grabbed a third with an 87th-minute free-kick.

That seemed a long way off in the sixth minute when John Swift put West Brom ahead with his sixth goal of the season.

The 28-year-old forward coolly passed the ball into the net first time from 20 yards from Grady Diangana’s square ball, the shot going in off the post.

The timing and precision of the strike meant goalkeeper John Ruddy had no chance of saving Swift’s second goal of the week.

Some City fans thought they had equalised in the 12th minute but Miyoshi’s shot ripped high into the side netting from a tight angle after Jay Stansfield headed Juninho Bacuna’s corner across goal.

Birmingham were level in the 23rd minute with a penalty which was hotly disputed by West Brom’s players.

At first glance the decision looked harsh as Miyoshi was falling anyway before Kipre’s lunge on him, but there was a follow-through from the latter which presumably made up the mind of referee Linington.

Bacuna made no mistake from the spot for his first Championship goal of the season, sending his kick low to the left of Alex Palmer, who dived the opposite way, and perfectly inside the post.

In a typical derby, action swung from end to end and a bouncing header from West Brom’s Alex Mowatt was held by Ruddy.

But it was Blues who dominated the rest of the half. The lively Bacuna saw a low shot deflect just wide off Kyle Bartley before John Eustace’s side took the lead in the 38th minute.

Sanderson guided a header high into the net from Cody Drameh’s deep cross after West Brom partly cleared a corner.

Sanderson, the former Wolves academy graduate, ran in front of the West Brom fans to celebrate enthusiastically.

West Brom wasted a golden chance to equalise in the 59th minute. Darnell Furlong slid in unmarked at the far post to meet Matt Phillips’ cross but his shot from six yards out flew inches wide.

Furlong had another chance soon afterwards but his far-post header flew straight at Ruddy.

But Blues need not have worried as Gardner curled home a delightful free-kick to seal Blues’ second home win in a week after Kipre was booked for bringing down substitute Scott Hogan in the D.