Rhian Brewster kept Derby County in hot pursuit of the Championship play-off spots with a first-half winner that seriously dented Birmingham City's own hopes of a top-six finish.

Brewster put the Rams ahead with a back-post header which James Beadle misjudged and left the goalkeeper falling to his knees in despair as he watched the ball hit the back of the net.

Sam Szmodics flashed a second-half chance narrowly wide from the edge of the area as Derby searched for a second to complete their fourth successive home win.

The latest victory at Pride Park moved John Eustace's side level on points with Southampton in the play-off spots and Wrexham in seventh, although both Saints the Red Dragons can edge clear of the Rams if they win their matches later on Saturday.

As for Blues, their third successive defeat on the road leaves them at risk of falling 10 points adrift of the top six with seven matches remaining if results go against them.

Derby carved out numerous first-half chances in a game they would go on to dominate, with Brewster sending an early shot wide while Patrick Agyemang had a close-range effort deflected off target before going on to test Beadle.

It was not until Brewster sprung up between two defenders in the 43rd minute to meet John Murkin's cross that the home side broke the deadlock.

The leap and towering finish from the Rams forward was completely misread by Blues goalkeeper Beadle, who failed to react as the ball found the bottom corner.

Birmingham did well to limit the Rams before Brewster struck, but they made little impression beyond that in an opening half in which they saw a little over 30% possession and failed to generate a shot of any kind.

While Blues improved after the break, they never seriously threatened, delivering an underwhelming performance in a game they needed to win to remain firmly in play-off contention.

Even when Carlos Vicente managed to call Rams goalkeeper Richard O'Donnell into an acrobatic save, the shot did not register as a chance after he was flagged for offside.

At the other end, Joe Ward fired wide while Beadle had to deal with efforts from Bobby Clark, Ben Brereton Diaz and Szmodics, whose 66th-minute shot on the spin was the closest Derby went to putting the result beyond doubt earlier.

Derby County head coach John Eustace told BBC Radio Derby:

"I thought it was a dominant performance. From the first minute to the last I was very proud of the effort of the group.

"We were on the front foot, we played no-fear football today and the way we went about our business was really pleasing.

"When you go away to Portsmouth on Monday and put on a really dogged performance to come away with a 1-0, it's always nice to back it up with a home performance like that to get another three points.

"Rhian has been on fire recently with his goal contributions, and it was a top finish from a great ball and great bit of play."

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies told BBC Radio WM:

"It was very disappointing again. We deserved nothing from the match, and that's what we got.

"I think first half we were well short, we didn't look a threat, we weren't strong enough and we conceded a poor goal.

"In the second half I thought we were better in terms of getting up to their box and general play - we had a lot more of the ball, without a cutting edge.

"It was definitely an improvement on a very poor first half. But in the end you lose the game 1-0, which was a fair result."