Cameron Jerome fired Birmingham into second place in the Coca-Cola Championship with the only goal of the game against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Jerome tucked away his seventh goal of the season as Birmingham took advantage of their games in hand on Derby and West Brom, who were otherwise engaged in FA Cup ties, to climb back into the automatic promotion spots.

The build-up to the match was overshadowed by rumblings at boardroom level, with David Sullivan this week claiming the Birmingham hierarchy are ready to sell up while also finding the time to publicly trade insults with Palace chairman Simon Jordan.

The equally-outspoken Jordan, still smarting from losing manager Steve Bruce to the Blues some six years ago, predictably responded in kind while Bruce received his customary hostile reception from the home crowd to add further spice to the proceedings.

Sadly, events on the pitch failed to match the entertainment off it - Jerome's neat first-half turn and shot aside - although Paul Ifill did strike a post for the Eagles.

Palace boss Peter Taylor opted to swap his front two, bringing back Shefki Kuqi and Dougie Freedman in response to last week's defeat at Leeds.

But the lack of cutting edge which has been a feature of their disappointing season was apparent once more with the Blues rarely troubled.

The visitors were quickly into their stride and should have gone ahead in the opening two minutes following a strong run down the right from Jerome.

Damien Johnson helped the ball into the path of Nicklas Bendtner, but the on-loan Arsenal striker hurriedly skewed his first-time shot over the crossbar.

Blues midfielder Stephen Clemence then latched onto a half-clearance on the edge of the area but his low shot was deflected wide.

At the other end, City survived a half-hearted penalty appeal when the ball hit Rahdi Jaidi's arm, before Mark Kennedy blazed over.

Jerome saw an angled drive blocked by Leon Cort, but the young forward managed to break the deadlock in the 35th minute.

Bendtner chased Gary McSheffrey's pass to the byline and cut the ball back for Jerome to turn and fire past the helpless Gabor Kiraly from six yards out.

Palace winger Ifill almost grabbed a leveller on the stroke of half-time, but his shot from the edge of the box cannoned back off the upright.

In a forgettable second half, Matt Lawrence fired wide for Palace and Bendtner shot over at the other end before Taylor, who had branded the encounter a "must-win game" to keep alive their slim play-off hopes, threw on former Blue Clinton Morrison, Jobi McAnuff and James Scowcroft.

McSheffrey then tried an audacious 40-yard effort which just cleared Kiraly's crossbar, while for the hosts McAnuff shot wide and Scowcroft put a weak header straight at Colin Doyle.

Morrison claimed he was held back in the area late on, but referee Steve Tanner waved away Palace's desperate appeals as Birmingham, Sullivan and Bruce took another step on the road back to the Barclays Premiership.

Teams:

Crystal Palace Kiraly, Borrowdale, Hudson, Cort, Butterfield,Ifill, Fletcher, Lawrence, Kennedy (McAnuff 59),Freedman (Scowcroft 73), Kuqi (Morrison 60).

Subs Not Used: Speroni, Ward.

Booked: Fletcher.

Birmingham Doyle, Jaidi, Martin Taylor, N'Gotty, Sadler,Clemence, Muamba (Larsson 79), Johnson, McSheffrey,Jerome (Danns 88), Bendtner (Vine 81).

Subs Not Used: Maik Taylor, Campbell.

Booked: Larsson.

Goals: Jerome 34.

Att: 17,233

Ref: S Tanner (Somerset).