But the Canaries had to thank their keeper in the 44th minute as he made an improbable reflex save to deny a powerful point-blank header from Horsfield.The second half produced less goalmouth incident but a steadily escalating tension and it required a diving header in defence from Carter to clear what might have been a decisive Norwich attack in the second minute of time added on.Roberts, Norwich’s totem of a Welsh international forward, had produced huge roars when he took to the pitch. But within a minute of extra time the forward, who has not started a match since February because of injury, generated even greater noise from the Norwich fans. After Martin Grainger’s mistake had offered Alex Notman the ball on the right, the cross was headed in by Roberts, who seemed to have skipped Birmingham’s minds after arriving late in the penalty area, having shaken off a kick to his ankle.But Birmingham, who had suffered so long in the metaphorical shadow of their neighbours, Aston Villa, were not to be denied. And when Jeff Kenna’s cross was headed back across goal by John, Horsfield dived in to level the match and set up the finale that Birmingham’s fans could only have dreamed of. Bruce hailed the courage of his side, saying: “It was an unbelievable game, end to end, and I have to say it’s a cruel way to finish. I thought the game was magnificent – and thankfully we’ve had that little bit of luck you need in a penalty shoot-out.”Darren’s probably been the catalyst of our season. We threw him in, and he was cool as a cucumber.”Goals: Roberts (91) 0-1; Horsfield (102) 1-1.Birmingham City (4-4-2): Vaesen; Kenna, Vickers (Carter, 70), M Johnson, Grainger; Devlin, Hughes, T?ly, Mooney (Lazaridis, 68); John, Horsfield (A Johnson, 112).

Substitutes not used: Bennett (gk), D Johnson.Norwich City (4-4-2): Green; Kenton, Fleming, Mackay, Drury; Rivers (Notman 89), Mulryane, Holt, Easton; Nielsen (Roberts 82), McVeigh (Sutch, 101). Substitutes not used: Libbra, Crichton (gk).Referee: G Barber (Hertfordshire).Bookings: Birmingham: Grainger, Carter.Man of the match: Green.Attendance: 71,597.. Goalkeepers: – Ricardo Pereira (Boavista); Vitor Baia (FC Porto); Nelson Pereira (Sporting Lisbon). Defenders: – Fernando Couto (Lazio), Jorge Andrade (FC Porto), Jorge Costa (Charlton Athletic), Marco Caneira (Benfica), Abel Xavier (Liverpool), Rui Jorge (Sporting Lisbon), Roberto Severo Beto (Sporting Lisbon), Nuno Frechaut (Boavista). Midfielders: – Sergio Conceicao (Internazionale), Paulo Bento (Sporting Lisbon), Nuno Capucho (FC Porto), Armando Petit (Boavista), Paulo Sousa (Espanyol), Luis Figo (Real Madrid), Joao Pinto (Sporting Lisbon), Pedro Barbosa (Sporting Lisbon), Rui Costa (AC Milan), Daniel Kenedy (Maritimo). Forwards: – Pedro Pauleta (Bordeaux), Nuno Gomes (Fiorentina)..

Goalkeepers: – Santiago Canizares (Valencia); Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Ricardo Lopez Felipe (Valladolid).Defenders: – Enrique Fernandez Romero (Deportivo); Juan Francisco ‘Juanfran’ Garcia (Celta); Miguel Angel Nadal (Mallorca); Fernando Hierro (Real Madrid); Curro Torres (Valencia); Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona).
Midfielders: – Joaquin Sanchez (Betis), Juan Carlos Valeron (Deportivo); Sergio Gonzalez (Deportivo); Ivan Helguera (Real Madrid); Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona); Francisco De Pedro (Real Sociedad); Luis Enrique Martinez (FC Barcelona); Gaizka Mendieta (Lazio); David Abelda, Ruben Baraja (Valencia).Forwards: – Diego Tristan (Deportivo); Raul Gonzalez, Fernando Morientes (Real Madrid); Alberto Luque Martos (Mallorca).. England’s World Cup suits and ties may officially be dark navy rather than black, but Sven Goran Eriksson looked suitably funereal in his at the Arsenal training ground yesterday afternoon. He had a right to be as he announced that Kieron Dyer of Newcastle had been written out of this summer’s plans and that another midfielder, Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, is also badly enough injured to be a serious doubt. Dyer lasted a little longer in Newcastle’s final match at Southampton before being knocked out of his stride, the game and the World Cup by a late, high tackle from Tahar El Khalej, who received a straight red card for it. The Moroccan would do well not to read any fan mail with an English postmark for a while.Although Eriksson may have been bracing himself for some bad news on the Premiership’s one full Saturday afternoon programme of the season, losing two more midfielders was enough to disturb even his famed composure. Neither David Beckham nor Nicky Butt are certain to be fit for the opening game against Sweden on 2 June and these latest blows raise further questions about the wisdom of picking so many central defenders at the expense of an extra midfield player.

“I was not prepared for these last two, which makes it a shock,” the manager admitted “When you wake up and have two phone calls like that… it could have been a better Sunday morning.”With Dyer having been pencilled into most people’s starting XI, despite having been fit enough for only 45 minutes under Eriksson to date, all the old options about the problematic position wide on the left are up for debate again, further complicated this time by the uncertainty about who will be available to play in the middle.Sinclair is the only natural winger left, but has been generally unimpressive in his three appearances to date and can hardly expect to walk straight from the 18th green into the team; his club-mate Joe Cole, for all his natural ability, has never played in a competitive international, or in more than 45 minutes of a friendly; the versatile Owen Hargreaves looked out of place there at home to the Netherlands. Eriksson hinted that the answer might lie in moving either a full-back (Wayne Bridge or Ashley Cole) forward, or a striker (Emile Heskey) backwards: “I think we’re covered,” he said. “We have at least two defenders who might play midfield and at least one attacker who can.”Heskey is believed to be lined up for that role in the second match, against Argentina, with England adopting the same fluid 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 formation as in the recent friendly away to the Netherlands, when Darius Vassell played wide on the other flank.