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Steve Bruce was posed with various dilemmas as regards team selection, due to the already lengthy injury list having the names of Paul Devlin, Stan Lazaridis and Stern John added to it. Damien Johnson continued to deputise for Devlin, as he did at Southampton, though this time on the left hand side, whilst Kirovski surprisingly came in for Lazaridis. Kirovski, however, took up a central role, and the returning Robbie Savage went out to the right. Geoff Horsfield also returned from suspension to replace John.
Blues started the game well, with Kirovski evidently keen to make an impression after several months waiting in the wings. He linked up well with the front two, and provided the 'attacking' midfield role that has perhaps been lacking. In fact, it took Kirovski just 7 minutes to make a real telling impact on the game when he put Blues 1-0 up. The former Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund man picked up the ball on the left-hand corner of the penalty area, exchanged a neat one-two with his former Crystal Palace team-mate Clinton Morrison, before curling a sublime right footed effort beyond Edwin Van Der Sar into the far corner. A matter of weeks ago, Blues had toiled, and ultimately failed, to beat Van Der Sar at St Andrews against depleted numbers. On this occasion, it has taken a matter of minutes.
As we have seen before, scoring early can be the worst thing that can happen to a Blues side, as they immediately sit back, invite pressure, and ultimately concede. However, today they appeared to be made of sterner stuff. Savage switched with Kirovski, allowing him to take up his usual position alongside Aliou Cisse. Fulham were still allowed too much possession though, and created a number of chances before the interval, through Sean Davis, Pierre Wome and Sylvain Legwinski - the latter's effort being superbly headed off the line by Purse. Meanwhile, referee Andy D'Urso was putting in a baffling performance, and incurring the wrath of both sets of fans due to his over-fussy, and inconsistent decision making. His one real telling contribution prior to the break was a booking for Purse for a foul on Luis Boa Morte - a booking that was to prove costly to Purse.
Fulham brought on Japanese International Junichi Inamoto for the second half, though he lasted just six minutes before a tough challenge by Olivier Tebily resulted in him limping off again. The home side continued to probe and to press, though Nico Vaesen wasn't unduly tested in the early stages of the second period. Former Blues man Steve Finnan was able to push forward from right back, and Davis was playing an influential part in the middle of the park. However, Blues themselves were still looking to nick a second on the break, with Kirovski shooting just over Van Der Sar's bar from a direct free-kick, and Morrison being foiled by the giant Dutchman when through on goal.
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Fulham were now able to press even harder for an equaliser - in a similar manner to Blues's own attempts at a winner in the return fixture not so long ago. Davis stung Vaesen's hands with a powerful drive, whilst the Belgian had to be on his guard to smother several deflected shots and crosses. Darryl Powell, Curtis Woodhouse and Bryan Hughes all played telling parts from the bench for Blues, all willing to get stuck in and protect the lead - though Hughes nearly netted an own goal after a low cross was narrowly missed by Steed Malbranque.
However, Blues managed to hold on to what could be a priceless three points, which actually takes them above Fulham. Following the full-time whistle, there were a number of skirmishes between players - mainly Rufus Brevett with Morrison and Savage - after a heated game completely mis-handled by D'Urso. Alongside Purse's two bookings, there were also yellow cards for Johnson, Horsfield, Cisse, Tebily and Powell. In saying that, in two recent games between these two clubs now, there has hardly been a bad challenge, yet there has been 3 sending offs, plus countless bookings.
This result put Blues 8 points clear of the bottom three, and back into a more comfortable position. The players are proving that they're up for anything thrown at them - with Kenny Cunningham, Cisse and Tebily all towers of strength in a testing final quarter of the game - and it is qualities such as these that are seeing Blues maintain a satisfactory gap betweem themselves and that dreaded 18th place. With two home games to come now, against Charlton and Everton, six points would be a dream, but even four points would leave Blues looking good as they prepare for Old Trafford and then the New Year.
PLAYER RATINGS:
Vaesen - Solid
Tebily - Strong in the latter stages
Kenna - Exposed at times
Purse - Excellent until dismissal
Cunningham - Remains faultless, and a huge, huge influence
Kirovski - Great goal, and a decent performance
Johnson - Played well in numerous roles, including right back for a time
Cisse - Held things together well at the end in a defensive role
Savage - Chased and harried, though not his greatest showing
Morrison - A decent enough all-round performance - though wasted a one-on-one
Horsfield - Gave Melville a torrid time
SUBS:
Powell - Aggressive and helped steady the ship
Woodhouse - A good performance in difficult circumstances
Hughes - Did a good job