Derby C 1 Birmingham City 2:BIRMINGHAM CITY'S superior status was not much in evidence at Pride Park on Saturday yet three of those moments of individual quality that tend to set the Premier League apart proved sufficient to take them to the last eight of the FA Cup.

An excellent corner from James McFadden, a snap shot from Kevin Phillips and an outstanding save by Joe Hart denied Derby County the replay which was the least their confident, composed performance deserved.

McFadden’s cunning, curling cross found Scott Dann out-jumping Shaun Barker to head the scores level after Jay McEveley’s drive had given Nigel Clough’s team the lead 10 minutes after half-time.

Then Phillips once again came off the Birmingham bench to show that at 36 his scorer’s instincts remain sharp. True he did not actually find the net on this occasion but his sharp turn and shot against a post left Liam Ridgewell to force the rebound over the line in stoppage time.

Lastly Hart’s acrobatic save to deny Robbie Savage an equaliser in the closing seconds confirmed the 22-year-old’s England potential, even if he had been caught out by the ball’s erratic bounce when Derby went ahead.

So Birmingham’s steady rise under Alex McLeish has continued to the extent of bringing them within two ties of an FA Cup final they last experienced 54 years ago, when Don Revie, recalled by Manchester City after Billy Spurdle went down with boils, wrecked Arthur Turner’s team almost single-handed.

An appearance in the semi-finals would be Birmingham’s first since 1975, when they lost to Fulham in a replay. Not that ancient Blues history seemed likely to be recalled for much of Saturday’s tie. Clough Jr’s Derby, whose Championship form has picked up of late, proved rather more obdurate opponents against Premier League opposition than had usually been the case when the team were last in the top flight. That was two seasons ago, when Derby sank with all hands under Billy Davies and Paul Jewell.

Now they matched Birmingham in midfield while their centre-backs, Barker and Jake Buxton, allowed McLeish’s attack few glimpses of goal until they actually scored. Going forward, moreover, Derby looked more threatening once Kris Commons, with close control allied to good vision, had started to turn Birmingham’s defence on the right.

So Clough was not merely indulging in manager-speak afterwards when he declared: “I thought that overall we deserved a replay and we do feel slightly hard done by. We were as comfortable as any team can be when facing a side lying eighth in the Premier League.”