Three points and an instant cult hero for Stoke

Tomas Rigo has been capped seven times by Slovakia

Stoke City fans got three points and an instant cult hero as the Potters made it four wins out of five against one of the Championship's hype teams in Birmingham City.

The points came courtesy of a brilliant first-half performance which was full of creativity, intensity and excitement, punctuated by a looping Bosun Lawal header for the only goal of the game and followed by a stubborn defensive stand after the break.

It was Lawal's ninth career goal and, given his stature, it was more than a little bit surprising to hear him say after that it was the first header he's ever scored.

Lawal was immense in both boxes and continued a run of excellent performances at centre-back which have left two of the club's most eye-catching summer signings in Maksym Talovierov and Ashley Phillips struggling for game time.

Defensively, Stoke have strength in depth in their squad to rival any club in the league.

Another summer signing, Lamine Cisse, made his debut off the bench to further strengthen the attack and Sorba Thomas continued his fine start to the season, well supported by Million Manhoef and Bae Junho, who made an impact off the bench.

It was Junho's replacement in the starting 11 that really got the crowd going at the bet365 though.

Before the international break, newly acquired Tomas Rigo was presented to the crowd in jeans the size of a wedding marquee and knitwear that would be the envy of any grunge frontman of the early 1990s.

His swagger and bleach blonde hair whet the appetite, as did reports of his influence as Slovakia beat Germany and Luxembourg last week.

The Stoke fans loved his work-rate. He covered a huge amount of ground, was physical and played with a personality that matched his pre-game attire.

Mark Robins says he's a "proper footballer" too, with good technical ability and vision.

Withdrawn in the second half, his own name, sung from the stands by a crowd loving every second of this start to the season, may still be ringing around his ears.

Stoke are a good side. Four wins out of five has fans resetting their ambitions for the next nine months - and rightly so.