Julian Speroni: Assured, commanding and exceptional when required to be. 8

Nathaniel Clyne: Not just assured defensively but Palace’s most forward thinking player at times. Back to his very best going forward, he took responsibility in the absence of Wilfried Zaha nearly scoring one and almost creating countless others, he was a threat all night. 10

Paddy McCarthy: His leadership is crucial to the side and his no nonsense style compliments Anthony Gardner’s more continental brand of defending perfectly. 8

Anthony Gardner: Another superb performance. He went about his work with consummate ease despite being up against the pace and power of Marlon King. 8

Jonathan Parr: A below Par performance from the young Norwegian who looked shaken early on by the pace of Chris Burke and dropped off too deep too early to try and nullify the Blues winger. When he did get the ball he was unusually wasteful in possession and rarely ventured forward. 5

Darren Ambrose: Getting back to the sort of form the Palace faithful know he’s capable of and was a constant threat from dead ball situations. Produced an inch perfect cross for the goal. 7

Kagisho Dikgacoi: Took his goal fantastically well and celebrated it in style. He was strong in the tackle, recycled possession through the midfield and showed an exquisite first touch. 8

Mile Jedinak: An all action display from the Aussie. He performed his midfield enforcer role admirably despite being outnumbered and overshadowed by Birmingham’s Guirane N’Daw. But he was effective at the other end as well and deserved a goal. He came very close with a sensational half volley in the first half and was denied by a fantastic Boaz Myhill save in the second. 9

Sean Scannell: Once again looked out of sorts on the left wing and it took him a long time to work out a way of getting himself into the game. Toward the end, he was drifting off his wing and found far more success and his direct approach became a real threat. 6

Chris Martin: Doesn’t seem to have settled in just yet. Was asked to play just behind Murray but while he worked hard, Murray was left isolated for vast swathes of the match. 6

Glenn Murray: As ever a willing runner and tried to provide his team with a platform of attack but his life was made harder in the first half by a more direct approach from the home side. He had the ball at his feet much more in the second half but didn’t have a chance of note. 7

Subs:

Jermaine Easter (Martin, 77): Easter looked bright when he came on and came close to scoring with a snap shot that nearly crept in at the near post. Always works hard and delivers a performance when called upon. 6

Calvin Andrew (Ambrose, 87): Ran around a bit for the three minutes he had on the pitch. 6

Peter Ramage (Scannell, 90): Late substitute. 5