No Ismaïla Sarr, no problem.

Without the club record signing, who had been directly involved in eight goals in 17 games, the Hornets showed they are more than the sum of its individual parts by churning out yet another win, their ninth in ten games and their fifth on the trot.

Sarr is a huge part of this team, providing it with its X factor, but the squad now head into a welcome international break, where some can rest and recharge ahead of the run-in, knowing just how deep their resources run and that they their strength lies way beyond just the Senegal flier.

The Hornets achieved victory in the reverse fixture at St Andrew's without Sarr, but this was a completely different win. Unlike the late show in the Midlands, the Golden Boys never ever looked like not winning this one, hitting the front early on, doubling the lead at the start of the second half and then killing it ten minutes from time. Birmingham had a good go when other teams in their position could have easily thrown the towel in, but every question they posed, the home side had the answer. That's now 47 points the Hornets have harvested at home, more than anyone in the country, and the first time in six years they have won five on the spin. And we all know what happened at the end of that season in 2014/15.

It was not the most complete or fluent performance under Xisco Muñoz, who has now won 13 of his 18 games in charge, but they did more than enough to get the job done and keep up their relentless pursuit of second spot. A first clean sheet in three games will also have pleased the coaching staff, moving this group to within two of the 20 they kept in 1994/95 and one closer to the 25 they recorded in the title-winning campaign of 1968/69. This lot, if they maintain such high standards, will take some stopping on this evidence.

The Hornets made exactly the sort of start you need against spirited opposition fighting for their lives who adopt a 4-5-1 formation. Ken Sema put the team ahead on five minutes, converting with his right foot after Neil Etheridge could only parry a left-footed shot from João Pedro. It was the fifth straight game they had scored a goal inside 17 minutes.

You wondered if we might be in for another home treat, like the one against Bristol City, but Birmingham showed the sort of fighting spirit their new manager, Lee Bowyer, was renowned for during his combative playing career. They had such a go that it needed Nathaniel Chalobah, Francisco Sierralta and, most bravely of them all, Will Hughes to win key headers; Chalobah to make a goal-saving block on Jérémie Bela and then Masina to make two key blocks, one on Maxime Colin after he drove forward from right back and then another when Scott Hogan was poised to pounce on a knockdown. The Blues caused the home some real problems in the first half without having a shot on target.

At the other end, Masina will feel he might have done better, and got a third goal in four games, with a chance at the far post from a Sema corner. The very industrious Dan Gosling headed just over from a João Pedro cross while Isaac Success got his feet in a muddle after seemingly doing all the hard work following a neat one-two with Sema.

The second needed to really deflate the Blues came ten minutes after the break, Chalobah peeling nicely round the back in a pre-planned move to plant in a header from a Gosling corner. That goal effectively had the game won with 35 minutes still to play so Muñoz again smartly emptied his bench, bringing on Carlos Sánchez, Joseph Hungbo, Achraf Lazaar, Jeremy Ngakia and Andre Gray for some much-needed minutes while resting weary legs. Ngakia and Gray took just 38 seconds to combine for the third, Ngakia sending Gray down the right for an opportunity the striker gobbled up with a lovely crisp finish. It was Gray again at his best: ball in front of him and finishing instinctively and quickly.

It really was vintage Gray and had shades of his career-high season of 2015/16 about it when he finished as the league's top-scorer, its Player of the Year and Burnley won the league. Top spot might be out of the Hornets' reach this season, but the team look hell-bent on claiming the second automatic spot. It's relentless stuff right now.