Birmingham leads at the interval

Leicester 0 Birmingham 1 HT

Leicester captain Matt Elliott was sent off for violent conduct before Clinton Morrison gave Birmingham the lead in a heated Midlands derby at the Walkers Stadium.

Elliott was given a straight red card after catching Blues midfield David Dunn with his forearm in an aerial challenge.

Then Morrison, who replaced the injured Christophe Dugarry, fired Birmingham into a 41st minute lead.

The game was hardly a classic and was littered by too many free-kicks – 17 in the first half-hour – from the over-fussy Riley.

He harshly booked Scowcroft after 32 minutes after a challenge on Jamie Clapham and then yellow-carded Damien Johnson after he left his foot in on Ben Thatcher.

Dickov was causing problems for the Blues defence but his shot on the turn was comfortably collected by Taylor.

Callum Davidson was on target with his 30-yard effort but again Taylor was well positioned to deal with the rising drive.

The game exploded into life in the 38th minute when Leicester captain Matt Elliott was given a straight red card after catching David Dunn in the face with his forearm in an aerial challenge. It seemed a harsh decision and five minutes later Blues were given the lead via the recalled Morrison.

Clapham provided the low cross from the left of the penalty area and Morrison was first to react to steer a shot wide of Ian Walker. The game was bubbling over and Stephen Clemence was booked for a late tackle on Izzet.