George Hirst scored a controversial penalty in the fifth minute of injury time to rescue a point for Ipswich Town and deny Birmingham City victory in the opening game of the new Championship season.

Birmingham had looked on course for a deserved win after Jay Stansfield had given them the lead early in the second half.

Stansfield fired home when summer signing Kyogo Furuhashi's effort came back off the post after the Japan forward had lifted a shot over visiting goalkeeper Alex Palmer.

Ipswich did not threaten an equaliser until they were awarded a controversial spot-kick by referee Andrew Kitchen.

Substitute Ashley Young swung over a deep corner which was met by the head of Jacob Greaves, and the ball connected with the hand of Scotland forward Lyndon Dykes.

His hand was at head height, but he was next to Greaves and it could be argued that the touch was certainly not intentional, with Blues' head coach Chris Davies describing it as "really, really harsh".

Hirst converted from the spot and Ipswich's celebrations led to a melee involving several players from both sides while visiting midfielder Jack Taylor appeared to be struck by a home supporter.

The penalty was the second big call that went against the home side after Furuhashi had a goal disallowed in the opening minutes for fouling Greaves in the build-up - two moments which had a decisive impact on the result.

These two sides have returned to the Championship after contrasting seasons in different divisions, but both are fancied to perform strongly this term.

Blues romped out of League One with a record 111 points while the Tractor Boys came unstuck in their Premier League campaign as they managed only four wins on their way to relegation.

Birmingham's ambitious American owners do not want to hang around in the second tier judging by some of their exciting summer acquisitions, of whom four started here.

The Knighthead Group, led by Tom Wagner, have big plans - although minority investor Tom Brady could not be here as the NFL megastar was back in New England awaiting the unveiling of his own statue at the Patriots' Gillette Stadium.

Davies' team may be 'newcomers', but they did not look out of place at all. They played with confidence, aggression and a clearly defined style as they showed why they have not lost a home league game since April 2024.

They came out on top in all the key metrics except one, with Hirst's spot-kick the only shot on target the visitors managed all game.

"Tonight was about the performance and how to handle the occasion," said Davies. "I thought we were the better team, we dominated the match and deserved to win.

"There was a lot to like. We've retained our identity, not just stylistically, but the spirit and the fight we had last season."

Eyebrows were raised last summer when Birmingham shelled out a eye-watering fee of more than £10 million – a record for the third tier - to sign Stansfield on a seven-year deal.

That was a sign of Blues' ambitions as Stansfield scored 23 goals in all competitions on the way to promotion.

He then started all three of England Under-21s' knockout games this summer as they won the European Championships.

Fresh from that, the 22-year-old is a fulcrum of this side and showed promising signs of an understanding developing with Furuhashi.

He missed two good chances in the first half, as he shot over and then dragged another wide, but made no mistake with his third chance early in the second half and looked set to be the match-winner until Hirst's last-gasp equaliser.

Both these sides are in action in the first round of the Carabao Cup in midweek.

Birmingham visit Sheffield United in an all-Championship tie on Wednesday (20:00 BST), with Ipswich away at League Two outfit Bromley 24 hours earlier on Tuesday (20:00 BST).

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk:

(On the penalty): "I haven't seen a replay to be honest. It's gone to the back post and the defender's put his arm up, probably in an unnatural position, but I'm 50 yards away.

"It's important to get something on the opening day and this is going to be a difficult place to come this season for anyone, especially on the opening night.

"Hopefully it's a good point come the end of the season and there are some things for us to build on."