Not for the first time it was a case of 'Super Kev' to the rescue as a superb brace by substitute Kevin Phillips turned this game on its head and earned Blues all three points at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea were condemned to their first home league defeat of the season thanks to Alex McLeish's sides desire not to give up on what at times others may have seen as a lost cause.

Twice they came from behind to ultimately land the spoils and it was a deft header and rasping drive from Phillips that made the difference after Marcus Bent had earlier grabbed his first Birmingham City goal.

Manager Alex McLeish brought winger Quincy and midfielder Mehdi Nafti back into the starting line-up.

Three other players who, like Quincy, were involved in action for their countries in midweek were Maik Taylor, Seb Larsson and James McFadden. All returned fit and well from international duty and took their place in the starting eleven.

Home boss Roberto Martinez included the highly rated Ferrie Bodde in his line-up which with the likes of Angel Rangel, Gorka Pintado and Jordi Gomez had a distinctly Spanish feel to it.

Swansea came out of the traps quicker than a greyhound at Perry Barr and a move down the left on just one minute and 20 seconds resulted in the opening goal of the game and left Blues shell-shocked.

Federico Bessone was released down the left and burst past centre-half Radhi Jaidi, who had come over from central defensive position to cover for Nicky Hunt. Bessone's low cross fizzed across the six yard box and the advancing Jordi Gomez was first to the ball and gleefully thumped it home from a central position eight yards out.

The visitors began to get a bit more of a foothold in a game the hosts had dominated in the opening minutes and when McFadden tried his luck from 20 yards with a shot that flew a few yards it was a positive sign of intent.

On the quarter-hour mark the Swans should have made it two when Gorka Pintado raced in behind the Blues' defence and latched onto a Mark Gower pass. He advanced beyond the last man and fired in a low shot from close-range that Maik Taylor saved brilliantly down to his right.

A Dimi Konstantopoulos clearance wasn't the best on 18 and landed straight at the feet of Quincy, some 30 yards out. His first time effort thudded straight into defender Angel Rangel.

With 20 minutes approaching Larsson was treated for a knock but after a short delay to proceedings was thankfully ok to continue.

On 22 Bent was fouled by Ashley Williams some 10 yards outside the area but the free-kick came to nothing as first Liam Ridgewell and then, following a ricochet, Franck Queudrue, tried to thread passes through to team-mates inside the area.

Three minutes later Blues, by now totally under the cosh, breathed another huge sigh of relief when Pintado met Bessone's left-sided cross with a towering header that had Taylor rooted. Amazingly the powerful effort from 16 yards bounced back off the post and away to safety.

Goalscorer Gomez was booked on 28 for a challenge on Ridgewell and a minute later, at the other end of the field, Bent also went into referee Anthony Taylor's notebook for arguing the toss after McFadden had been adjudged to have fouled Leon Britton.

Four minutes later Bodde and Larsson went shoulder to shoulder down the right as the Swede attempted to win the visitors a corner and the Swansea player went down injured. A stretcher appeared from near the Liberty Stadium dug-outs and the Dutchman was carried off before, on 36 minutes, Guillem Buaza was brought on as his replacement.

With six minutes of the first half left Blues mounted a break down the right, with the overlapping Larsson accepting a McFadden pass. A corner was forced but once again the setpiece came to nothing and McLeish's men had still not mustered an effort on target.

On 42 the visitors were back in the game, and how! Having barely been able to string two passes together for the majority of the half Blues produced a stunning move to equalise. Quincy opted to play the ball out wide right to the galloping Nicky Hunt who had made great strides forward. His whipped cross was sublime and perfectly found the head of Bent five yards out, who nodded the ball into the ground and into the back of the net for his first Birmingham goal.

Right on half-time Britton lashed a shot wide from 20 yards as Swansea attempted to regain the lead - and they did just that in injury time to the dismay of the crestfallen Blues.

Rangel mounted a charge down the right and cut into the area. With far too much space to get a cross away he opted for a low, powered centre and the ball flicked in off Jaidi and went in despite the efforts of Hunt to belt it clear. A couple of Blues players complained to officials that the ball didn't actually cross the line but the referee wasted no time in awarding a goal.

On 50 minutes Larsson's speculative effort from 35 yards drifted wide but at least it was a sign that Blues had emerged positive after the break. Quincy then broke down the left and laid on a chance with a low ball across the face of the six-yard box but no-one was in the right place at the right time to get on the end of it.

Urged on by just over 700 travelling fans the visitors were doing all they could to get a stranglehold on the game, with much of the good work being led by the enigmatic McFadden, who showed some class touches and found Quincy on the left a couple of times in the early stages of the second period.

Blues were enjoying much more possession but needed a better final ball at times. One such example was when Quincy was in space wide left but Queudrue opted to go inside the full-back with his pass instead of outside and the Ghanaian was none too impressed.

Darren Pratley attempted an optimistic stab with the outside of his right boot from 20 yards with 62 played, an effort that didn't have Taylor at all troubled as it drifted well wide.

At the other end a minute a later Bent burst clear and squared a low ball to McFadden but unfortunately he stumbled as he attempted to get it under control and get a shot away and another opportunity went a begging.

On 65 McLeish made his first change of the evening, bringing on for Quincy and instantly the Blues fans behind Konstantopoulos's goal were given a huge lift.

Nafti was then replaced by Kemy Agustien as Blues attempted to shuffle the pack before, with 69 played, a lovely Bent ball from the left evaded the Swansea defence and fell to Larsson eight yard out. He decided to hit it first time and got his angles all wrong, sending the ball skewing wide.

But one man who hardly ever misses the target is Phillips, and on 74 the sub put Blues back on level terms. Agustien found McFadden on the left touchline and his whipped cross was nonchalantly headed into the top corner from a standing position by the evergreen striker, who was instantly mobbed by his team-mates after notching his seventh goal of the campaign.

And five minutes later the travelling faithful were in ecstasy when Phillips produced a moment of true class to put the visitors ahead for the first time in the game and cap a remarkable comeback. Bent wisely rolled a short pass into the path of Phillips and from 20 yards out the frontman took a touch before arrowing a superb shot past Konstantopoulos and into the far corner.

The Swans tried in vain to muster an equaliser but the Blues defence stood tall and came away from South Wales with a tremendous comeback victory under their belts, once again highlighting the spirit and determination amongst the ranks.

Swansea: Dimi Konstantopoulos, Angel Rangel, Ashley Williams, Gary Monk (C), Federico Bessone, Mark Gower, Darren Pratley, Ferrie Bodde (Guillem Buaza 36), Jordi Gomez, Leon Britton (Jason Scotland 73), Gorka Pintado (Fabian Brandy 80). Unused subs: Alan Tate, Dorus De Vries.

Goals: Gomez (2), Jaidi (45 og)

Blues: Maik Taylor, Nicky Hunt, Radhi Jaidi, Liam Ridgewell, Franck Queudrue, Quincy (Kevin Phillips 65), Lee Carsley (C), Mehdi Nafti (Kemy Agustien 67), Seb Larsson, James McFadden (Cameron Jerome 80), Marcus Bent. Unused subs: Colin Doyle, David Murphy.

Goals: Bent (42), Phillips (74, 79)

Referee: Mr A Taylor

Attendance: 16,956 (705 Blues fans)