Bloodied and bruised: Derby battle to Boxing Day point at Blues

As Ebou Adams is clattered from behind, Sondre Langås sits on the St Andrews turf, a trickle of blood pouring from his head.

Big Austrian defender Christoph Klarer is given his marching orders by referee Ben Toner, who gave out a fair few belated Christmas cards, levelling the playing field to ten men apiece in second half stoppage time after Joe Ward needlessly earned himself an early bath.

The blows in this anything-but-festive scene sound more akin to a boxing match than Boxing Day. But is there much better to proceed a football fan’s turkey sandwiches than a fiery Championship encounter?

If any extra spice was needed in the period of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, John Eustace’s return to the second city provided it in spades.

The Rams head coach spoke of “18 great months” at a “fantastic club” when asked about his time in charge of The Blues following last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Portsmouth. Yet frustration in the home stands threatened to boil over at points, as a ghost of a Christmas past looked to haunt Birmingham.

Since then, the club has changed beyond recognition, with heavy investment on and off the pitch. “They’ve got a really strong squad” according to Eustace, who expected “a really difficult game”.

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And that it was, to begin with at least. Jacob Widell Zetterström had to deny former Derby loanee Patrick Roberts and Demarai Gray in the first five minutes before the latter rattled the post.

With Rams academy graduate Eiran Cashin filling in behind him at left back, Gray was a livewire, providing width before an injury forced him off after a quarter of an hour.

On the other side, inverting right back Tomoki Iwata was a thorn in The Rams’ left side, burrowing ever-further into the heart of the pitch.

Meanwhile, Derby nearly stung their hosts on the counter, when Ward perfectly whipped the ball onto Patrick Agyemang’s head, only for his effort to fly too high.

With Chris Davies’ side hogging the ball like a child who will not co-operate in pass the parcel, this route one play was exactly what Derby would need to do to find a breakthrough.

And after chances for Roberts and Jay Stansfield at the other end, they had the beating of James Beadle with another direct, yet aesthetically pleasing move.

From inside his side’s defensive third, Joe Ward launched a ball down the right, which Rhian Brewster supremely crossed first-time. At the near post was Patrick Agyemang, who dived to head the ball into the bottom-right corner off the woodwork.

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Brewster’s passing was less impressive when he looked to square the ball to Ward 30 yards from goal following a Derby corner. Cue a burst of pace from Roberts which was abruptly halted by a shove from Joe Ward.

It could have been a good tactical foul, had Ward not already been booked for kicking the ball away ten minutes prior. But now a man down with 50 minutes to play, Eustace’s side’s backs were firmly against the wall.

Already without Dion Sanderson, who was ineligible to face his parent club, Derby were now another first-choice defender down.

However, Danny Batth, who started in Sanderson’s place, and Curits Nelson, who came off the bench at the break, were immense in repelling almost everything that came their way, while fellow-substitute Adams was typically tenacious in the middle of Eustace’s 5-3-1.

The Rams’ best chance for a second came five minutes after the restart, when Agyemang burst round the outside of four defenders and drilled the ball across goal.

But no one is as fast, or as powerful, as Derby’s chaos-maker-in-chief: there was not anybody up to meet it.

The hosts equalised in the 64^th minute, when defender Jack Robinson scrambled Marc Leonard’s free kick over the line from an offside position.

Though his next effort, a 25-yard pile-driver, was anything but scrappy, it was simple for Zetterstrom. The Sweden International pushed it behind for the first of five corners Birmingham won in the final 25 minutes.

Eustace was given a card of his own in the 69^th minute, for protesting Toner’s decision not to send off Klarer for a foul on Agyemang.

But after a handful more chances for his former club, including an agonising header wide from former Celtic frontman Kyogo Furuhashi, Eustace would have been left saying better late than never in stoppage time.

However, there was still time for one more chance, Robinson heading off the bar in the 98^th minute, to round off an afternoon a chaotic festive afternoon in the West Midlands which Crossroads would be proud of.

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 It was not quite the 4-0-win Eustace played in 11 years ago, but Derby still impressed in a bodies-on-the-line display. Going toe-to-toe with ambitious big spenders thanks to their own squad depth.

Now the big question becomes who starts at the back at Leicester on Monday night? John Eustace certainly has a selection headache.

Does Batth keep his place? Has Nelson earned a start?

Will captain Langås fill-in at right wing back once more? Or can Max Johnston find fitness in time to benefit from a birthday gift: the chance to reclaim his place from one of Derby’s form players after a rush of blood to the head.