Another opportunity for Stoke as the ball drops to Huth inside the box but he swings a wild leg and completely misses the loose ball.

Sorensen goes forward for the corner but Jerome heads clear. McFadden bursts forward but fails to make the most of the opportunity with Sorensen out of goal as he runs into trouble on the halfway line.

Whitehead wins his side a corner and it will be Stoke's last attempt of the game.

Ferguson bends a free-kick around the wall but it is a comfortable save for Sorensen.

The hosts are running out of time and look to have run out of steam.

There are some tired legs out on the pitch now due to the busy Christmas period - can the fresh Stoke substitutes make Birmingham pay?

Fuller peels away from the Birmingham defence but is pulled back for offside.

Etherington's whipped free-kick finds Faye but his glancing header does not hit the target.

Birmingham have weathered the Stoke storm and look very efficient at the back, though they will surely be put under siege again before full-time.

Stoke have lost some of their earlier momentum but need to regain some of it if they are to get anything out of this game.

McFadden gets a shot off from 25-yards but cannot get it through a crowd of bodies inside the box.

Tony Pulis is absolutely livid on the touchline but Martin Atkinson waves play on.

A Lawrence free-kick is headed clear by a blue shirt but Stoke appeal for a penalty as Carr brings Shawcross down with a tug of his short.

It is one way traffic at the moment and it seems inevitable that Stoke will make Birmingham pay from one of their set-pieces.

Birmingham catch Stoke on the break and Jerome tears down the left flank before picking out Benitez in the box, but his shot on the turn is blocked.

The corner finds Faye wide open in the box and his arrowed header is superbly saved by Hart - a goalkeeper in fine form.

This is a great response to the goal from Stoke and Whitehead gets a chance from the edge of the box but Dann puts in a crucial block.

A superb break from Stoke as Lawrence stands a cross into the path of Beattie but Hart gets a touch to knock the ball away. It lands in the path of Etherington whose hooked volley forces a fine save out of Hart.

An out-swinging Larsson corner finds the head of McFadden but he cannot direct the ball goal-wards.

Etherington comes out worse in a challenge and the signs are worrying for Stoke as he limps off the field.

Shawcross appears to be struggling with an injury and does not look comfortable.

Jerome lets fly from distance and his low shot is straight at Sorensen.

Christian Benitez goes down under the challenge of Faye but the referee waves away the appeals for a penalty.

Lawrence places a cross in the danger zone and Beattie has the beating of Johnson but his downwards header bounces over the bar.

More problems for Birmingham from a corner and the ball drops to Lawrence but his drilled volley is charged down.

Larsson drags a left-footed shot wide from 20-yards.

Beattie causes further problems and this time finds Etherington who slices his 20-yard effort over Hart's goal.

Beattie's knock-down finds Tuncay whose first time effort from six-yards is blocked by a blue shirt.

Etherington bends a corner into the mixer and Shawcross climbs above everyone again, this time directing his header over the bar.

The visitors threaten Sorensen's goal from a Larsson corner that Stoke fail to deal with but in the end the keeper smothers the loose ball.

Cameron Jerone tries his luck from 25-yards but pulls his weak effort wide of the mark.

The home fans are in full voice at the Britannia Stadium and are urging their side forward.

The hosts look dangerous from free-kick and Liam Lawrence's delivery has been superb. This time however Johnson beats Shawcross to the ball.

Stoke look most likely to break the deadlock here with Thomas Sorensen still untroubled.

Shawcross is inches away from giving Stoke the lead as he stretches to latch onto a loose ball at the far post.

Whitehead bursts down the flank and almost picks out Tuncay from the byline but still manages to win a corner for his effort.

Etherington searches out Robert Huth with a free-kick but his delivery is just too far ahead of the defender.

The visitors are frustrating their opponents by playing at a pedestrian pace, waiting for an opening, and they have killed Stoke's early momentum.

James Beattie's flick on almost finds Tuncay with an outstretched leg but Joe Hart reads the danger.

Birmingham are on a ten-game unbeaten run and confidence is oozing through their system, though the hosts are giving them some problems at the moment.

Etherington looks lively and takes on Roger Johnson who manages to get a foot in at the price of a corner.

Ryan Shawcross is wide open inside the box and fails to make the opportunity count as he directs his header wide of the target.

Good move from Stoke as Sanli Tuncay holds the ball up for Matthew Etherington to get a cross into the box but it deflects behind for a corner.

It has been a frantic start to this Midlands derby and the visitors look very comfortable in these opening stages.