On one hand there was no harm done in Rovers’ quest to finish in the play-offs in respect of their gap to seventh-placed remaining at four points.

While that offers some solace, it equally highlights what a missed opportunity it was.

The performance may not have warranted taking all three points back up the grid-locked M6, but just one would have been valuable with how things panned out elsewhere.

This was a game that followed the pattern of so many in the early stages of the season, and similar concerns remain with eight remaining, even with the huge improvements made in that period.

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s methods are clear, but require a quality of possession to implement them, as well as a high intensity.

Too often Rovers failed to make the most of the opportunity presented by their interchanging of positions as they fell short in the final third.

They missed the chance to truly take hold of the game and dictate from the middle of the pitch.

It was while Rovers were last at St Andrew’s that the Lewis O’Brien deal slipped through their fingers, and on their return, it provided a painful reminder of how big his signing would have been.

Sam Gallagher was starved of service, just 20 touches across the 90 minutes, and as he, like Rovers, had several nearly moments without ever looking overly threatening.

What was striking was the lack of urgency that Rovers showed in the wake of going behind.

They readied a double substitution almost instantly, with Sorba Thomas and Ben Brereton sent on, but you didn’t get the impression of what was at stake, both in the game and the wider context of the season.

The pitch made it difficult to move the ball quickly, but Rovers still managed to work themselves up the pitch well, it was just in the final third that they were let down by a lack of quality.

Intensity was the buzzword of the early season, and remains crucial to this side.

When the ball is moved at pace, they look a threat, yet the opposite of that sees them look pedestrian and easy to defend against.

It was the fluctuations between those two approaches that brought about periods of dominance, but also ones where they allowed Birmingham back into it.

Joe Rankin-Costello was at the heart of Rovers’ good play in the first half, though the best chance went the way of Dom Hyam who headed over from a corner delivered by Ryan Hedges, who kept his place on the right wing.

The hosts came back into things after a bright Rovers start, with Lukas Jutkiewicz twice going close, with the first of two snap-shots flying narrowly wide of the right-hand upright, and the second after controlling a George Hall cross kept out by a well-placed Aynsley Pears.

Either side of half time John Ruddy came up with key saves to deny Hedges.

The first was a smart stop diving low to his left after the Welshman was slipped in by Tyrhys Dolan who took the place of Brereton on the left.

With both sides emerging from the break feeling the game was there to be won, Hedges tried his luck from distance after a short corner, with Ruddy turning the ball around the post with a fingertip stop.

Then came the moment that opened the game up, with Reda Khadra, roundly booed by those in the away end, the provider of it.

The attacker, who spent last season on loan with Rovers, scored against them for the second time this season as his shot made it through a crowd of bodies to nestle in the net after a corner was only half cleared.

He was substituted soon afterwards, a reflection of how out of character that goal was in his all-round performance, though Rovers would need no reminding of his matchwinning quality.

The first of Rovers’ double changes made very little impact in their quest to find to a way back into the game, with Thomas in particular a disappointment.

Tomasson was readying another double switch before Hyam again failed to hit the target with a header from six yards out, this time getting a glancing connection when a firmer one would surely have seen Rovers level.

Bradley Dack, only half fit in the eyes of Tomasson, was then sent for, and in 10 minutes twice went close to scoring.

The first saw him link with Brereton, his low shot squeezing under Ruddy, though the slightest of touches from the 'keeper stopped it running into the far corner.

Ruddy then atoned for allowing Travis’ shot to run free as he reacted quickly enough to deny Dack’s follow-up.

Rovers were camped in the Birmingham half as seven additional minutes were signalled, offering hope of a late equaliser.

As Gallagher glanced wide from Callum Brittain’s cross though, Rovers’ chances had run out, slipping to defeat in their first game of an action-packed April.

Rovers will have their destiny in their own hands you would you expect until the very end, with Norwich City, Luton Town and Millwall all still to play.

This was a chance for Rovers to put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack, but one spurned.

Tomasson remained a figure of calm after the game, describing this as a ‘bump in the road’ that all sides will experience in the run-in.

There is now even more significance attached to the Good Friday date with Norwich City where Rovers will look to ensure they hold their end of the bargain.

They will need to raise their performance to do so, but they have shown their ability to respond to setbacks to this point.

They will need to do that amid mounting pressure, with another crucial Easter period in store.