Birmingham hot run goes on

Birmingham City's charge towards the top of the English Championship continued on Tuesday with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Portsmouth.

Teenage substitute Nathan Redmond scored the late winner with a superb volley from Curtis Davies' knock down, earning the home side a well-deserved win, their fifth in six matches.

Birmingham had 15 shots to Portsmouth's 10 and, most importantly, were on target with four of those shots compared to just one from the visitors.

The three points took Birmingham into third on the Championship table at the expense of Cardiff City, who lost to Blackpool on Sunday.

Despite having the only remaining unbeaten home record in the Championship this season, Birmingham struggled to take control in the first half and it was not until the introduction of Redmond for Marlon King after 61 minutes that they exerted some serious pressure.

Both Adam Rooney and Jordan Mutch had big chances to win the game for Birmingham, but Portsmouth held on until the 86th minute, with goalkeeper Stephen Henderson particularly impressive for the South Coast club.

Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton would have happily taken a point after three defeats in the last four, but it was not to be thanks to England U18 international Redmond's second goal of the season.