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Gareth Davis reports from Pride Park Stadium

Steve Davies scored his first goal in a Derby shirt to earn the Rams a dramatic but fully deserved 1-1 draw at home to Birmingham City.

The Blues had held the upper-hand at the end of a tight first half thanks to Quincy Owusu-Abeyie's fine strike but it was a different story after the break.

Miles Addison struck a post and Derby also had three good penalty appeals rejected during a period of domination that saw Nacer Barazite force Maik Taylor into a fine save.

Davies came on as a substitute in the 55th minute and made his mark with four remaining as he got the faintest of touches to Barazite's dangerous free-kick to bring things level.

He almost won it too, forcing Taylor into a spectacular stoppage-time save from a curling free-kick, but Derby's point was justified as they kept up their good form of recent weeks.

Tito Villa's goalscoring exploits as a substitute at QPR on Saturday earned him a recall to the starting line-up against high-flying Birmingham.

The Argentinean's return, in place of Nathan Ellington, was the only change to the side victorious at Loftus Road as Derby looked to extend their unbeaten run to five games.

Birmingham were on the attack immediately through Medhi Nafti, a late call-up to the starting XI to replace Sebastian Larsson, though Roy Carroll had no real trouble in grasping the Tunisian's strong effort.

Rob Hulse followed suit at the other end with a dipping half-volley that looked for a second as though it was going to cause Maik Taylor some difficulties.

Derby's pace was frantic in the early stages, a continuation of the effort and commitment that had earned them the points in West London and, as on Saturday, it was forcing the opposition into mistakes.

But the closest call in the first 15 was from a Birmingham attack with James McFadden cleverly setting up Stuart Parnaby for an inviting low cross that was turned behind by skipper Paul Connolly.

And Derby suffered a blow on 17 as Martin Albrechtsen, a scorer of two goals in his last two games, pulled up inside the box and hobbled off with a hamstring problem to be replaced by Lewin Nyatanga.

It was the Welsh international's first appearance of the season but disrupted a defence that had remained unchanged since the Carling Cup tie at Preston North End back in August.

And a quick break eight minutes later saw the visitors go in front.

Barazite's pass on the edge of the Birmingham box was cut out at source, leaving Quincy Owusu-Abeyie to feed McFadden down the right.

McFadden took his time before sliding the ball back across the edge of the box for Quincy to smash an unstoppable shot past Carroll and into the top-corner.

The goal had a somewhat stifling effect on what had, up to that point, been another raucous Pride Park atmosphere.

The home faithful were off their seats again six minutes before the break after a patient move through midfield saw Jordan Stewart's left-wing cross deflected skywards, and when it dropped Hulse went for the spectacular overhead effort only for his shot to fall safely into the arms of Taylor.

Connolly saw yellow, harshly, for a foul on Parnaby right on the edge of the Derby box in stoppage-time, though McFadden closed proceedings by wasting the opportunity and blazing his effort over the bar.

As with the first half Derby started at pace but when they did break forward they didn't take the chances that came their way to get the ball into the Birmingham box.

And the Rams' second change of the evening followed on 55 minutes with Steve Davies taking over on the left from Pearson.

Two changes became three shortly before the hour with Ellington taking over from Villa and joining Hulse through the middle.

The flurry of substitutions continued with Garry O'Connor for the visitors replacing McFadden, who showed his disappointment at being taken off on his way down the tunnel.

Davies then saw a powerful free-kick from the edge of the box blocked by the Birmingham wall before Leacock was cautioned for handball and O'Connor fired a long-range effort safely over the bar.

And on 66 the Rams had a strong penalty appeal turned down when Hulse seemed to be bundled over by Liam Ridgewell while in the act of controlling a Stewart cross.

Referee Michael Oliver had a good view of the incident and was unmoved, as he was seconds later when Davies hit the deck inside the box.

Derby were getting up a head of steam and there was yet another shout following a corner, when Green and Quincy tussled, but Oliver again chose to ignore the Rams' appeals.

And they were an inch away from getting a deserved equaliser on 71 through Miles Addison, whose volley clipped the post and went wide after Ellington's cross had caused chaos inside the visitors' box.

Barazite wasted a 20-yard free-kick soon afterwards as Derby kept up the pressure, but for all the Rams' efforts Taylor was still to be seriously tested..

The Northern Ireland international did get some action with quarter of an hour remaining as Hulse's effort was deflected into his arms.

And Taylor had to be at his sharpest on 82 to beat away a powerful effort from Barazite, who had cut in from the right on Ellington's flick.

From the resulting corner, Connolly fired over from the edge of the box.

But with four minutes remaining the Rams were level - and deservedly so.

Barazite swung in a free-kick from deep on the left and it dropped dangerously inside the Birmingham box where Davies got the final touch to nudge it past Taylor.

The former Tranmere man almost won it in stoppage-time with a beautiful curling free-kick that Taylor grabbed from under his crossbar, and right at the death Carroll had to scramble an effort over, but both sides can feel satisfied with their point.

Derby: Carroll, Connolly (C), Green, Stewart, Villa (Ellington 59), Hulse, Leacock, Addison, Barazite, Pearson (Davies 55), Albrechtsen (Nyatanga 17).

Substitutes: Bywater (GK), Kazmierczak.

Birmingham: Maik Taylor, Murphy, Ridgewell, Jerome (Bent 69), Nafti, Agustien, Jaidi, McFadden (O'Connor 60), Quincy (Phillips 79), Parnaby, Carsley (C).

Substitutes: Doyle (GK), Martin Taylor.

Attendance: 29,743 (2,500 visiting fans).