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Rhian Brewster's winner against Derby was his fifth goal in his past 10 appearances Rhian Brewster kept Derby County in hot pursuit of the Championship play-off spots with a first-half winner that seriously dented Birmingham City's own hopes of a top-six finish. Brewster put the Rams ahead with a back-post header which James Beadle misjudged and left the goalkeeper falling to his knees in despair as he watched the ball hit the back of the net. Sam Szmodics flashed a second-half chance narrowly wide from the edge of the area as Derby searched for a second to complete their fourth successive home win. The latest victory at Pride Park moved John Eustace's side level on points with Southampton in the play-off spots and Wrexham in seventh, although both Saints the Red Dragons can edge clear of the Rams if they win their matches later on Saturday. As for Blues, their third successive defeat on the road leaves them at risk of falling 10 points adrift of the top six with seven matches remaining if results go against them. Boro drop more points in goalless draw with Blackburn Millwall hit back to draw at Ipswich Derby carved out numerous first-half chances in a game they would go on to dominate, with Brewster sending an early shot wide while Patrick Agyemang had a close-range effort deflected off target before going on to test Beadle. It was not until Brewster sprung up between two defenders in the 43rd minute to meet John Murkin's cross that the home side broke the deadlock. The leap and towering finish from the Rams forward was completely misread by Blues goalkeeper Beadle, who failed to react as the ball found the bottom corner. Birmingham did well to limit the Rams before Brewster struck, but they made little impression beyond that in an opening half in which they saw a little over 30% possession and failed to generate a shot of any kind. While Blues improved after the break, they never seriously threatened, delivering an underwhelming performance in a game they needed to win to remain firmly in play-off contention. Even when Carlos Vicente managed to call Rams goalkeeper Richard O'Donnell into an acrobatic save, the shot did not register as a chance after he was flagged for offside. At the other end, Joe Ward fired wide while Beadle had to deal with efforts from Bobby Clark, Ben Brereton Diaz and Szmodics, whose 66th-minute shot on the spin was the closest Derby went to putting the result beyond doubt earlier. After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 21st March 2026 at 15: 53 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: John Eustace Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Chris Davies Formation: 3 - 4 - 3 Manager: John Eustace Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Chris Davies Formation: 3 - 4 - 3 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Derby are winless in their last four league games against Birmingham (D2 L2), last having a longer run without beating them between 1996 and 2009 (7 games – D3 L4). Birmingham and Derby drew in this season’s reverse fixture (1-1 on Boxing Day 2025), despite the Blues having their highest possession average (73. 7%) and second-most shots (25) in a Championship match this season. Derby have won their last three home games in the Championship, while they last won four in a row in the competition in January-February 2021 under Wayne Rooney (4). Only Sheffield Wednesday (13) have scored fewer goals in Championship away games than Birmingham (15) this season. Indeed, the Blues have lost and failed to score in their most recent two (0-3 v Millwall and 0-1 v Charlton). Derby have the most Championship wins in games with fewer than 40% possession this season (12), including doing so in their most recent league outing (1-0 v Portsmouth with 32. 5% possession). Match ends, Derby County 1, Birmingham City 0. Second Half ends, Derby County 1, Birmingham City 0. Attempt missed. August Priske (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Carlton Morris (Derby County). Jack Robinson (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Carlton Morris (Derby County). Jack Robinson (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Corner, Derby County. Conceded by August Priske. Jhon Solís (Birmingham City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Jhon Solís (Birmingham City). Carlton Morris (Derby County) wins a free kick on the right wing. Corner, Derby County. Conceded by Jack Robinson. Fourth official has announced 5 minutes of added time. Foul by August Priske (Birmingham City). Matt Clarke (Derby County) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Jack Robinson (Birmingham City) is shown the yellow card. Attempt blocked. Joe Ward (Derby County) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Corner, Derby County. Conceded by Jhon Solís. Substitution, Birmingham City. Kyogo Furuhashi replaces Jonathan Panzo. Substitution, Derby County. David Ozoh replaces Bobby Clark. Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.