How can Birmingham City’s players fare better against Arsenal and Chelsea – if you factor in the encouragement gained as well as the single point – than against Sunderland and Derby County? It is a conundrum that Alex McLeish, their manager, needs to resolve soon.

Robbie Savage, returning to the club he left in acrimonious circumstances three years ago, said that he recognised the fear permeating St Andrew’s on Saturday from his last season with the club, when Steve Bruce’s team became embroiled in a relegation battle. “Once we got the equaliser you could sense the fear in the crowd,” the Derby captain said.

The irony that a man called Villa sank Birmingham into the mire, when Emanuel Villa headed in a cross by Dean Leacock in the penultimate minute, was the last thing on David Gold’s mind as he reviewed the wisdom of his programme notes. “I’m depressed because one point from four games is not acceptable,” the chairman had written. “I don’t want to put pressure on the players or the manager, but we are all under pressure.”

McLeish responded by attempting to redress the balance - “There’s no reason to panic,” he said – but the damage had been done. Birmingham failed to convert a succession of chances before Sebastian Larsson appeared to have won the day in the second half. But Villa’s first goal since his £2 million transfer from UAG Tecos in Mexico was not such a great surprise.

BIRMINGHAM CITY (4-4-2)

Maik Taylor 6

S Kelly 5

Martin Taylor 5

L Ridgewell 5

D Murphy 5

S Larsson 7 (sub: M Zarate, 77min)

D Johnson 6

F Muamba 5

O Kapo 6

G O’Connor 5

J McFadden 6.

Substitutes not used: C Doyle, S Parnaby, C Jerome, M Forssell. Booked: Larsson. Next: West Ham United (a).

DERBY COUNTY (4-4-2)

R Carroll 7

D Leacock 6

D Moore 4 (sub: A Todd, 67 4)

A Stubbs 7

M Edworthy 5

C Fagan 5

H Ghaly 6

R Savage 4

L Robert 4 (sub: G Barnes, 60 6)

K Miller 6

R Earnshaw 5 (sub: E Villa, 61 6).

Substitutes not used: L Price, G Teale. Booked: Edworthy, Robert, Leacock, Miller, Savage. Next: Tottenham Hotspur (h).