Ten-man Derby County held Birmingham City to a draw in a feisty encounter at St Andrew's in which both sides had a player sent off.

The visitors took the lead through Patrick Agyemang on 27 minutes but were forced to play more than half the match a man down after Joe Ward was dismissed just before the interval after picking up his second yellow card.

Jack Robinson equalised, and Birmingham also ended the match with 10 men after skipper Christoph Klarer was sent off in stoppage time for a high-footed challenge.

This was a controversial and hot-tempered match, with Klarer lucky to escape a second yellow card earlier in the second half before his karate-style challenge on Ebou Adams.

And Robinson's equaliser looked suspiciously like a handball.

Birmingham, whose winless run extended to five matches with this draw, rattled the woodwork late on as they searched in vain for a winner.

Despite the frustration of an entirely avoidable red card, Derby will have finished the happier of the two sides, given they played almost all of the second half with a numerical disadvantage.

And while Ward's second bookable offence, for an unnecessary foul on Patrick Roberts, which followed a first for kicking the ball away at a Birmingham free-kick, undoubtedly cost his side, there will be some satisfaction that they were able to escape with a point.

Birmingham set the tone early on for what was a decent display going forward, with Demarai Gray hitting the woodwork in the opening five minutes.

Yet it was the visitors who took the lead just before the half-hour mark with a brutally efficient counter-attack, turning a handball appeal in their own box to a goal at the other end.

Rhian Brewster raced on to a long ball to the right wing and his cross was nodded home by Agyemang.

Six minutes before the break, the whole complexion of the match changed when Ward saw red for clipping Roberts' heels needlessly as he bore down on the penalty area with covering defenders arriving on the scene.

Ward's dismissal forced boss John Eustace into a change of personnel for a second half of firefighting, with two forwards - Brewster and Ben Brereton Diaz - making way for Curtis Nelson and Adams.

Birmingham's pressure finally brought a breakthrough when Marc Leonard's free-kick from the right was turned in by Robinson, who clearly used an arm as he bundled the ball home - but it was missed by the officials.

Derby's mood was not improved five minutes later, when Klarer escaped a second yellow card after wrestling Agyemang to the floor - a decision which led to Eustace himself being cautioned for arguing his case on the touchline.

Robinson hit the bar with a header as Birmingham chased a winner and there was still time for Klarer to see red in the final stages.

Birmingham boss Chris Davies told BBC Radio WM:

"From our point of view, there is underlying frustration there. They have a man sent off just before half-time and there is a big chunk of that second half before Chris Klarer gets sent off where we had a man advantage.

"But I thought we played a good game. One long clearance up the pitch has resulted in a goal, which is frustrating and sloppy from our point of view, but I liked a lot about how we played that first half.

"Patrick [Roberts] was looking really dangerous, Demarai [Gray] has hit the post and some of our football was excellent against a team who pride themselves on defensive solidity."

Derby manager John Eustace told BBC Radio Derby:

"I thought they were excellent. To be down to 10 men for a long period was tough, but the way the lads went about their business today was absolutely outstanding. I was very proud of every one of them.

"The first 10 minutes we got our shape very slightly wrong. After that we took a really good grip of the game.

"We scored a fantastic goal and we knew we would have a bit of pressure to defend, and apart from when they hit the post I don't think they caused us any other issues.

"Even when we went down to 10 men I felt very comfortable, and I'm disappointed we didn't get the three points.

"I thought it was a very soft yellow card [for Joe Ward] but his decision-making for the second was very poor. He has to hold his hands up for that."