Ten-man Birmingham battled their way through to go back to the top of the Championship with only one game left.
During the week, Sheffield Wednesday lost the services of their keeper, recalled to Derby County. Steve Watson was also recalled by West Brom and with other injuries, they probably felt they were a bit light but still well capable of doing the job.
With Damien Johnson still unfit, Seb Larsson again took up the right wing position in a team unchanged from the one that was victorious at the Molineux six days previously.
The pressure was truly on Birmingham following Sunderland’s narrow victory over a dogged Burnley side. With Derby not playing their corresponding fixture until Sunday afternoon, it’s easy to see the arguments for playing all these high-intensity games at the same time.
Blues started nervously, mirroring Sunderland’s slow start the night before. The game was not particularly free-flowing wih few chances on either side in the first half.
The game was turned by the sending off of Fabrice Muamba for a second yellow card. His challenge was poor and the red card was appropriate, although unfortunate as he will now miss the last game of the season.
Fans’ hearts sunk when McSheffrey was sacrificed to bring on Nafti as an extra holding midfidler, as it seemed that the plan was to hold out the draw and go to Deepdale with the intention of getting three points. However, nobody from the front line was sacrificed so the attacking options were still available.
A ‘get out of jail’ card was certainly used up by Birmingham as Kenny Lunt’s shot cannoned off the bar; had Wednesday scored at this point, a return would have been tough indeed.
With just over 15 minutes to go, a free kick just outside the area was launched in by Larsson and scrambled in by Jerome. Unfortunately for Adamson he was barged by one of his own defenders to let Blues through the gap.
At 1-0 though, the points weren’t in the bag and Wednesday tried to get themselves back into the game.
The tension was finally relieved by Seb Larsson who scored what could well be Birmingham’s goal of the season with a fine run from the right wing, evading defenders on his way before firing a low shot into the net.
This Man of the Match performance made the game safe for Blues with only six minutes left on the clock.
Manager Rating
Steve Bruce seemed to be going for the point with his initial substitution of Nafti for McSheffrey, but steel in the centre was needed to leave two forwards on the pitch.
Opponent Rating
Brian Laws has done an excellent job on the Owls since he took over and they are strong and resolute. It’s a shame that their playoff quest is over for this season but he is building a good platform for further progress next year.