Birmingham boss Chris Hughton lauded in-demand teenager Nathan Redmond after his goal clinched a crucial 1-0 win over Portsmouth.

The 17-year-old wrote the latest chapter in his promising rise by coming off the bench to score a superbly-taken 86th-minute volley which separated the sides.

"He's a wonderful player," Hughton said. "He's a real talent, we genuinely don't like to get too carried away about players because we've seen it before when you get a player who doesn't get to the levels you think he is going to.

"At the moment I think we've managed him quite well. Certainly he's a talent, we'd like to think he'll be a player for the future."

The victory, which extended Blues' unbeaten run to 12 games, moved Hughton's side up into third in the npower Championship table - just two points adrift of the automatic promotion places.

Hughton added: "I'm not one to look at the league table every day, but you know in this division that as well as your form can get you in there, two or three losses on the spin can make you go the other way."