Birmingham City have held off a fightback from Rotherham United to seal all three points in a 2-1 win in their Championship clash at St Andrew's this afternoon.
The Millers have now suffered their fourth defeat on the bounce and remain just four points adrift of relegation following Millwall's late victory over Charlton Athletic.
The visitors started the stronger of the two sides in the early stages of the first half, but the Blues had the perfect start in terms of goals when Robert Tesche found the back of the net.
The midfielder moved into the penalty area and drilled a side-footed effort past the goalkeeper to give the home side a crucial lead.
It didn't stop there, though, as Birmingham doubled their lead before the half-time whistle through Clayton Donaldson.
The striker got himself in the right position to head in the ball in after goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's clearance failed to go far following a 20-yard free kick from David Cotterill.
After the break, Birmingham got themselves in a muddle when the ball wasn't cleared properly after Darren Randolph saved from Lee Frecklington's strike.
Matt Derbyshire was in the right place at the right time as he simply tapped the ball into the back of the net to get his side back into the game.
Despite getting on the scoresheet, Birmingham continued to dominate and came close to increasing their lead when Tesche created a chance in added time, but his effort was saved by the keeper.
Birmingham sit 15th in the table.
Danielle Joynson
