[6][7] Acting chairman Peter Pannu threatened to report Villa to the League for making an illegal approach to McLeish, and insisted that they could speak to him only if they agreed to pay the £5.4 million compensation due under the terms of his contract.

Without Cameron Jerome and Nikola Žigić, who did not travel due to injury, and Barry Ferguson, who returned to England ahead of his transfer to Blackpool, Hughton used 19 players in a game settled by a 30th-minute goal from new signing Adam Rooney.

Everton opened the scoring after an hour through a Leighton Baines free kick, then after Louis Saha was allowed too much time on the edge of the penalty area, his shot bounced awkwardly in front of debutant Boaz Myhill.

[24] Birmingham fielded five new signings, Boaz Myhill, Steven Caldwell, Chris Burke, Morgaro Gomis and Adam Rooney, on the opening-day visit to Derby County.

Birmingham were fortunate that Lukas Jutkiewicz failed to convert a good chance after turning Caldwell, and Myhill came close to carrying the ball over his line when saving a misplaced cross.

[26] Playing on the Sunday because of their Europa League play-off match on the Thursday, Rooney opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Burke was fouled, but Middlesbrough went on to complete their third consecutive victory by three goals to one.

A goal down at Nottingham Forest with 15 minutes left, Burke gathered a loose ball and hit a powerful shot from 25 yards, then set up Wood to score with the help of a deflection.

[31] After a change of referee at half-time because of injury, King converted a penalty before Leicester City's captain, Matt Mills, was sent off for a two-footed tackle on Gomis, and Wood brought his league goal tally to eight in nine games.

[32] They followed up with another win, away to Bristol City, despite missing several chances: Burke converted Beausejour's cross and beat the offside trap to score a 95th-minute second through David James's legs.

[35] After Grant McCann's "spectacular" free kick earned Peterborough United a 1–1 draw at St Andrew's, a disappointed King stressed the need "to be more clinical in the final third all around the team".

Although Peter Whittingham's free kick hit the post, substitute centre-half Pablo gifted Miller a goal shortly afterwards by heading a cross straight to his feet.

[39] Birmingham came from behind to beat Doncaster Rovers 2–1, with goals created by Burke and scored by King,[27] before losing at Crystal Palace to a late Kagisho Dikgacoi header in a match dominated by the goalkeepers.

They took an early lead when Pablo failed to deal with a ball in from the left, and goalscorer Carlton Cole's shot on the turn in stoppage time was thwarted only by a fine save by Myhill.

[41] They went into the new year in 12th place, six points off the playoff positions with two games in hand, and still unbeaten at home in the league, after a comfortable victory against Blackpool, with goals from Davies, King and Redmond.

[42] After a minute's applause in memory of former Birmingham defender Gary Ablett, who died of blood cancer the previous day, Peterborough United took the lead after 29 seconds of the first match of 2012 when Emile Sinclair beat the offside trap.

[27] Birmingham made three loan signings, Andros Townsend, Erik Huseklepp and Peter Ramage, in the days before the Football League imposed a transfer embargo because the club's accounts had not been submitted by the due date.

Within two minutes, Kevin Nolan touched a long ball to Carlton Cole, who drove it low past Myhill,[52] and West Ham equalised through Vaz Tê's 89th-minute penalty awarded for handball when "Lansbury's vicious shot struck the raised arm of Burke, who was in close proximity to the effort.

[55] They were drawn to play Nacional, who qualified as sixth-placed team in the Portuguese Primeira Liga and had beaten FH of Iceland and Swedish club Häcken to reach the play-off round.

After numerous chances to increase the lead, including a curled shot from Redmond that hit the inside of the post, Wood's 84th-minute tap-in secured a 3–0 win and qualification for the group stage.

Hélder Barbosa opened the scoring after just six minutes with a volley from a Nuno Gomes cross which Boaz Myhill could only palm into the net, then Lima doubled the deficit against the run of play.

In the second half, Nikola Žigić and Wood were ready to come on as substitutes when King used his strength to hold up a ball in midfield and played it through to Burke, who rounded Martin Milec and shot low past Jasmin Handanović.

Near the end of normal time, a clash of heads with Akpala left Pablo Ibáñez unconscious for some minutes before he was carried off on a spinal board, leaving teammate Guirane N'Daw in tears.

With top scorer Chris Wood ineligible and Wade Elliott cup-tied, Keith Fahey returned to the starting eleven after injury, Myhill, Caldwell and King were rested, Carr and Ridgewell injured, and Colin Doyle made his first appearance of the season.

Curtis Davies's overhead kick was cleared off the line by Kolo Touré, making his return to the City side after a six-month drugs ban, and Nikola Žigić came on as substitute for his first Birmingham appearance in nearly six months.

Again, Doyle made a late double save, this time from Fletcher and Stephen Hunt, to ensure Birmingham would face Sheffield United of League One at Bramall Lane in the next round.

[81] Goals from Redmond, Rooney (2) and Elliott gave Birmingham a comfortable victory, attributed by Sheffield United manager Danny Wilson to their "better clinical finishes", and youngsters Eddy Gnahoré and Callum Reilly were given debuts with ten minutes remaining.

[82] Away to Chelsea in the fifth round, despite starting without King, Žigić and N'Daw and losing Carr to injury after only 12 minutes, Birmingham opened the scoring when the defence failed to deal with Mutch's corner and Murphy shot firmly home.

[27] Under interim manager Roberto Di Matteo, after André Villas-Boas' dismissal, Chelsea won the replay, but they were made to fight by a weakened Birmingham side motivated by Žigić, who was angered by a facial gash courtesy of David Luiz's boot.

[7] Hughton's first signing was Inverness Caledonian Thistle striker Adam Rooney, also a free transfer under the Bosman ruling,[89] soon followed by Scotland international defender Steven Caldwell, recently released by Wigan Athletic.

In addition, two free agents signed short-term contracts: former Ireland international forward Caleb Folan, who had been playing in America for Colorado Rapids, and the manager's son, right-back Cian Hughton, who had trained with the club for several months and was expected to spend his time primarily with the development squad.