THERE was relief and satisfaction in the tired sigh as Sam Allardyce reflected on one of the the most frantic and, potentially, the most significant weekends of his managerial career.

Hours after selling his top scorer and with two new strikers sitting in the stands, he saw the team that had scored just twice in six games hit four in the biggest "must-win" game of the season.

Now he can plan for another crunch relegation clash at West Brom on Saturday, knowing the pressure has eased and with his squad stronger than ever.

The manager described the result against Birmingham as "a massive victory" and the dealings of the previous 24 hours as "outstanding business".

He also claimed a tactical success with his switch to a 4-4-2 formation for the first time this season paying off handsomely.

"This really cheered me up," he said, the adrenaline keeping him awake long enough to praise assistant manager Phil Brown and first team coach Neil McDonald for looking after team affairs while he did his nailbiting negotiations on the transfer market.

"I've been pleased with what's happened in the last 48 hours but it was very draining and tiring. I hadn't much energy left for the game so Phil and Macca stepped in and did the job - and so did the players. I've finished up with what I wanted - three new players, albeit at the death - and a massive result.

"It makes it a very good weekend for me, I'm glad to say. Hopefully the players will take some confidence from another four-goal win after the 4-3 against Newcastle and the 4-2 at Leeds."

Wanderers led twice through two own goals but Birmingham hit back each time and the game was on a knife-edge until Youri Djorkaeff struck on 83 minutes.

Three minutes later Delroy Facey settled it with his first Premiership goal to leave the manager with high hopes of a surge up the table.

"That's the quality of finishing we need and if we keep that up we won't have any problems staying in the Premiership," he suggested.

There was quality service too from Jay Jay Okocha, which was a telling factor after Allardyce had been encouraged by the withdrawal of French World Cup winner Christophe Dugarry.

"Dugarry going off was a bonus for us at 2-2," he said. "He was always a threat, maybe not in goal terms but in creative terms. When he couldn't continue they lost a bit of their attacking threat.

"I thought we were always the dominant side in the second half but didn't get the final quality in the final third to cause them as many problems as we should. When we did, Youri got his goal and an opportunity fell to Delroy, which many other players might have been standing and watching rather than being in there to take. His finish was superb."

Allardyce, who matched Birmingham's 4-4-2 line-up because he felt man-for-man he had the better players, was less than complimentary about his defenders and will be working overtime with them as he prepares for the Albion game.

But nothing could detract from the joy of victory. "One-nil, 4-0 or 4-2 ... it doesn't matter as long as it's a win." he said.