*Gabriel Agbonlahor struck a late winner as Aston Villa beat derby rivals Birmingham in a tight game.*

The England striker nodded in after John Carew had headed an Ashley Young free-kick towards him.

The goal settled a match of limited chances and quality, although it did belatedly set up an exciting finish.

Birmingham pushed for a leveller, but Agbonlahor should have added a second when he was clean through only to put his shot high.

The brief late drama was not in keeping with a game in which both defences had the upper hand for the most part.

And Birmingham fans will feel their side could have done more earlier as they adopted a similarly cautious approach to the game as Villa.

The St Andrew’s faithful certainly provided a vociferous atmosphere for their side as they tried to encourage them to avenge the 5-1 thrashing dished out by Villa the last time these two met.

And, although Birmingham showed plenty of intensity, Villa had a more controlled approach as they tried to keep the home side at arm’s length - hoping their extra quality would provide the breakthrough.

The strategy almost paid off during the first half but James Milner and Agbonlahor failed to take the chances which came Villa’s way.

Milner shot wide and sliced an effort horribly off target after a driven cross from Agbonlahor, who had a near post header diverted just wide by defender Roger Johnson.

Villa were playing with a new-look defence as central defenders Richard Dunne and James Collins made their debuts along with left-back Stephen Warnock.

Their first real test came when Garry O’Connor chested down a ball and had a shot blocked by Warnock, who quickly got himself up to get in front of Sebastian Larsson’s follow-up strike.

Lee Bowyer had a 20-yard shot saved and ex-Villa trainee Keith Fahey steered a shot just wide for the home side who suffered the loss of James McFadden because of a thigh injury.

Birmingham closed into their shell more the longer the game went on as Villa started to increase their threat on goal after big striker Carew entered the fray.

Steve Sidwell headed straight at Blues keeper Joe Hart before Milner again shot wide.

But any hopes Birmingham had of a battling point were quashed when Agbonlahor struck for Villa’s third league win on the bounce and saw them continue the away form which served them so well last season.

*Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill:*

“I said before I’m not sure there’s great enjoyment of or about the game but it’s nice to have won.

“It was a game of few chances. We played solidly and nicely without exerting a great deal of pressure.

“Gabriel Agbonlahor was absolutely terrific. His confidence is getting greater and greater with each game and the goals obviously help any centre forward."