Birmingham all but safe as Baggies fear drop

Birmingham 1 West Brom 0

Birmingham 1 West Brom 0

Substitute Geoff Horsfield scored an injury-time winner to virtually guarantee Premiership survival for Birmingham and send local rivals West Brom closer to relegation.

Horsfield headed home a deflected shot from Stern John in the fourth minute of injury-time.

A share of the spoils looked to be the right result until Horsfield - who replaced the injured Clinton Morrison - earned Birmingham their third win in four games.

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City certainly had their opportunities with Christophe Dugarry (twice) and substitutes Darren Carter and Horsfield denied by a combination of fine goalkeeping by Russell Hoult and poor finishing.

Wide midfielder Damien Johnson caught the eye although City missed the pace of in-form winger Stan Lazaridis who failed a late fitness test on a hamstring strain.

But Albion also played their part in a game that got better as the afternoon wore on. Jason Koumas impressed in the centre of the park and only the woodwork denied Jason Roberts his first goal in 19 games.

They also showed their usual battling qualities but will now need to put together a remarkable run of results to stave off relegation.