FA Cup Fifth round/ Stoke City 0 Birmingham City 1: So much of this season has offered trauma rather than triumph for Birmingham that Steve Bruce, embattled by his side's toils in the Premiership, should bask in the respite this competition is offering.
For the first time in 22 years, City have reached the quarter-finals. The only worry is that, back in 1983-84, their appearance in the last eight was accompanied by relegation.
Birmingham departed with the locals' bellowing "We'll see you all next year". Six points adrift of 17th place, Bruce can hardly afford to become distracted by the knockout sideshow.
Bruce cut a relieved figure. His buzz words were "effort" and "endeavour", the cliche that "anything can happen now". He added, surreally: "Get to the quarter-finals and a home draw and you can start smelling the hot dogs." But humour masked concerns over a crippling injury list. There were 11 players unavailable with Chris Sutton, Matthew Upson and Kenny Cunningham succumbing to groin problems.
His team could have done with that trio's experience once their early flurry of chances failed to bring reward. Yet they exploited Stoke's hesitancy immediately upon the restart. The recalled Nicky Butt's shot from the edge of the area was deflected wide and, from Jermaine Pennant's corner, Martin Latka flicked over Steve Simonsen and Mikael Forssell hooked home at the far post.
The Finn has scored 10 goals in his 10 career cup starts with confidence steadily returning after knee, calf, thigh and hamstring problems. Birmingham will be grateful for his bite.
Stoke, embroiled in internal politics and plummeting down the second tier without a league win in nine, were gummy in comparison but will still wonder how they failed to force at least a replay. Their strikers sported a broken nose and a fractured hand between them, though Mamady Sidibe and Sam Bangoura muscled their way through all afternoon and were denied only by Maik Taylor's excellence.
Twice before the interval he thwarted Stoke. Dave Brammer volleyed into Taylor's midriff and Carl Hoefkens battered a shot the goalkeeper tipped aside. In between, Bangoura spun on Clint Hill's knock-down only to drag wide. "We had the better chances," said the Stoke number two Jan de Koning. "We should have won." De Koning is no longer on speaking terms with manager Johan Boskamp, despite finding himself alongside his former friend in the technical area at times.
Stoke's best chances came immediately after Forssell's goal. Michael Duberry's header from Brammer's corner was somehow clawed away by Taylor before Junior beat Butt to possession and sent Sidibe down the right. The striker's cross flicked off Alex Bruce's temple and arrived perfectly for Bangoura, unmarked. But the Guinean sent his header straight at the goalkeeper from point-blank range.
With that miss went Stoke's chances.
