Birmingham City 2-0 Derby County: Scott Hogan and Jeremie Bela goals send Blues fourth

Goals from Scott Hogan and Jeremie Bela helped Birmingham City beat Derby County and move up to fourth in the Championship.

Derby had more possession but apart from one Tom Lawrence effort in the second half, they struggled to create chances and drop to 16th.

Troy Deeney made his Birmingham debut as a second-half substitute.

All the attention before the game was on Deeney, who had joined the club he supported as a boy, just before the end of the summer transfer window to end his 11-year association with Watford.

But he was only a sub as manager Lee Bowyer opted to continue with Lukas Jutkiewicz and Hogan up front, and it was the former Brentford and Aston Villa man who put his side ahead.

However, it came from a bad backpass by Rams left-back Lee Buchanan, which put Jutkiewicz in on goal. He was denied initially by goalkeeper Kelle Roos, but the ball was worked across to Hogan, who made no mistake from close range.

That played into the hands of Bowyer’s team and a second goal on a counter-attack from Bela wrapped things up. At the other end, it was a fourth clean sheet in six games and no team has conceded fewer in the Championship than their three goals.

But it also highlighted Derby’s problems in attack, despite enjoying 67% possession. Lawrence was closest when he forced a second-half save out of Matija Sarkic in the Blues goal, but only Sheffield United have scored fewer than Wayne Rooney’s team, who have managed just four in their six matches.