Shrewsbury Town's summer rebuild may still be a work in progress with the new campaign just 10 days away.
But, on the evidence of another pleasing warm-up against Championship opposition, the pieces are being gradually slotted into the jigsaw.
Concerns over firepower and gaps at the back were forgottten as the goals flowed freely again and Newcastle youngster James Tavernier, impressed at full-back as a trialist.
While Akwasi Asante's injury blow was as untimely as you get after the impact he'd made against Bolton last weekend and before he could even get his loan up and running.
But Tom Bradshaw unsettled an experimental Birmingham back four – including former Wolves youngster Mark Little and Liam Davis – sufficiently to suggest he could make League One defenders suffer too next season.
And Tavernier provided a classy and athletic display on the right that it would be no surprise if Graham Turner will want to take the matter further with his parent club Newcastle.
The positives outweighed the negatives and although the Town boss was still unhappy with the goals-against count.
Both second-half efforts from Matt Green and Chris Burke, which cancelled out Shrewsbury's 2-0 interval lead, were superb strikes from the edge of the box.
But it was Town making the early threat with some rapid movement which left Lee Clark's men gasping in the bright evening sun.
Jon Taylor, Bradshaw and new recruit John Marsden all looked a bit sharper on the ball.
Taylor, in particular, was full of running and ambition. The Merseysider lofted a shot-cum-cross into Colin Doyle's side netting in the opening minutes.
Then the little winger offered a burst of speed down the left to take him clear of his man and he fired past the keeper at the near post for the eighth-minute opener.
When the on-trial full-back tore to the bye-line it was Bradshaw showing excellent opportunism to flick home the second at the near post.
Town were rampant at that stage and when Bradshaw played a give-and-go with Marsden, Doyle appeared to know little about the striker's right-footed drive as he stuck up a glove.
But Blues had a powerful frontman in former Mansfield striker Green, one of five new signings Clark included in his starting XI.
Joe Anyon, offered a full 90 minutes in the Town goal, showed good reflexes when tipping Green's close range header on to the bar.
Parry, though, should have scored a third after the visitors were split by an early ball, but he could only screw his finish past the far post.
Wade Elliott was equally wasteful with a half-chance at the back stick, but Blues emerged the stronger in the second period.
Green may have been wearing a shirt without a name, but he was a high-profile thorn in Shrewsbury's flesh throughout. His fierce drive took a deflection en route into the top corner to cut the arrears on 46.
Then Shrewsbury suffered another blow when Taylor, worryingly, limped off with an ankle injury.
Burke's exquisitely curled left-footer squared matters up with 20 minutes left.
But just as Birmingham appeared to have gained the upper hand, an unfeasible finish from Paul Parry and an unlikely effort from Darren Jones restored the two-goal cushion.
With Doyle stranded, Parry's lob from 25 yards out caught the far corner (77) before some sloppy defending offered Jones the opportunity to show he can be deft as well as physical in opposing boxes.
The big centre-half hadn't expected to see the start of the new campaign, never mind the warm-up games after suffering a serious shoulder injury over Easter.
But after making a rapid recovery he has barely missed a day of the summer preparations and the half-time substitute became the third Welshman on the scoresheet when he tucked a neat finish inside the post for Town's fourth on 81 minutes.
By Gwyn Griffiths
