Bela, unmarked in the six-yard box, glanced a header past the goalkeeper at his near post. Etheridge made his debut in a solid defensive performance in a goalless draw at Swansea City, marred by Swansea coach Alan Tate "raising his arm to the neck area of Toral before shoving him to the ground" at half-time, for which the Football Association gave him a four-match touchline ban and a fine. At home to Rotherham United, Birmingham switched to a 4–4–2 formation to accommodate the debut of Scott Hogan. Neither side were effective in attack, and after 87 minutes, Bela's clumsy tackle gave away a penalty from which the visitors scored. Minutes later, Toral won a penalty, and Bela showed what Karanka called "personality" to fulfil his role as designated taker and secure the draw. Without Jutkiewicz, who had tested positive for coronavirus, Birmingham failed to score in the three matches after the international break. Their first league defeat of the season came against Sheffield Wednesday via a penalty awarded for what the victim, Callum Paterson, described as "a bit of a nudge in the back" by Clayton. Their second came three days later away to promotion favourites Norwich City: their well-organised defensive shape held out until the last five minutes when Clayton was sent off and Norwich took advantage. A more attacking formation, with Jonathan Leko partnering Hogan up front, achieved a goalless draw at Queens Park Rangers. Gary Gardner's header from Bela's free kick opened the scoring at home to Huddersfield Town, who equalised late on; even later, Leko's shot hit the bar and Jutkiewicz, who had come on after an hour, tapped in the rebound to secure Birmingham's second win of the season via their first goal from open play. They won again at Preston North End, via Riley McGree's first goal for Birmingham, two minutes into his first start, and another Gardner header, to end October in mid-table. November–December Birmingham went winless through November. At home to Wycombe Wanderers, who had gained their first ever point at Championship level the previous week, Marc Roberts scored his first goal for years while several team-mates failed to take their chances. Wycombe took advantage of their hosts' ineffective second-half performance, first to equalise and then to force a winner via Pedersen's own goal. Karanka said afterwards that Wycombe "showed more determination than us to win the game. But they controlled the