Middlesbrough head into half time with a 2-1 lead over Birmingham City in this evening's Championship meeting at the Riverside Stadium.
Boro fired an early warning shot through Nathaniel Chalobah, who forced an impressive save out of visiting keeper Darren Randolph from outside the penalty area.
The Blues came close at the other end in the seventh minute as Paul Caddis's ambitious long-range strike tested Boro stopper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos.
The home side took the lead in the 29th minute when Danny Graham bundled home from close range following a corner, and it took Boro little more than a minute to double their advantage.
Jacob Butterfield drilled home Jozsef Varga's cross moments after the restart to give the hosts a two-goal cushion, but there was more drama to come before half time.
Emyr Huws found the net for Birmingham in the 37th minute, putting away Chris Burke's cross from almost 30 yards out to give his side a lifeline at the interval.
Mark Langshaw
