Championship: Birmingham City 1 - 0 Derby County

Birmingham's slender victory saved Steve Bruce from the sack. Last night's win could prove every bit as important as Rowan Vine's first goal since arriving from Luton in January enabled Birmingham to leapfrog Derby County and return to the Championship summit. More signifi cantly for Bruce, Birmingham have opened up a seven-point gap on third-placed West Bromwich Albion, their opponents at The Hawthorns tomorrow week.

It is a meeting Gary McSheffrey, Birmingham's leading scorer and talisman, will take no part in. His straight red card for a two-foot lunge on Dean Leacock will bring an automatic three-match suspension, the winger's recklessness taking the gloss off a win that checks Derby's momentum. Billy Davies's side were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage, Colin Doyle not having a serious save to make in a second half when Derby appeared physically drained.

The visitors remain only one point behind Birmingham but have played a game more and this chastening outcome will test their belief. There were periods before the interval when they counterattacked with menace but that threat disappeared after the break. A nervy fi nale ensued as Birmingham fans counted down the four minutes of added-time but there were no alarms despite Derby playing with as many as fi ve strikers up front late on.

Davies described his side's second-half performance as "naive" . He was frustrated that his players did not pepper the Birmingham penalty area with crosses and place Doyle under more pressure. He pointed to the midweek match at Norwich as an explanation for his player s' apparent tiredness and suggested the state of the pitch did not help. "I was concerned before the game and I said that to the referee," said the Derby manager. "It's a shambles but that's no excuse."

Bruce had apologised for the lifeless pitch in his programme notes but there was no sense of guilt that his side profi ted here. Nicklas Bendtner had come close to a breakthrough before Vine struck to secure a deserved win. "I am just delighted for everyone concerned," said the Birmingham manager. "The players we have bought into the club, they never know when they are beaten. They give you everything they have got. They might make mistakes at times but their application and attitude is fantastic."

He was particularly pleased for Vine, not least because Bruce admitted the club had been held to ransom when they spent £2.5m on the forward after Cardiff offered £800,000. Vine had failed to score in his fi rst eight games but the neat turn that prefaced a low drive into the bottom corner on the stroke of half-time suggested Birmingham may yet get some return on their investment. "We probably paid too much money but that repays it tonight," said Bruce.

Vine's contribution is likely to be crucial during McSheff rey's absence against Albion, Norwich and Coventry . He had leapt off the ground before catching Leacock , making the red card inevitable, and Bruce had no complaints about the dismissal. "He knows and we all know that it's a bad challenge . That's the only downside tonight."