Martin Grainger's 47th-minute free kick proved enough to give Birmingham victory over First Division leaders Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Grainger curled his free kick into the net after Kit Symons was adjudged to have fouled Dele Adebola on the edge of the Fulham box.

Jean Tigana’s men created enough chances to have taken something from the game but could not overcome the handicap of missing strikers Louis Saha, Luis Boa Morte and Barry Hayles.

Midweek signing Peter Moller made his debut and led the attack, partnered by Andrejs Stolcers but they never had the sharpness of the missing trio.

Karlheinz Riedle made his first appearance of the season as a 55th minute substitute for the ineffective Stolcers and foraged determinedly but to no avail.

Once the visitors had gone ahead they made sure they had 11 players behind the ball and goalkeeper Ian Bennett was rarely troubled as Fulham's efforts seemed to be blocked by bodies in blue.

The Cottagers' best effort came from Bjarne Goldbaek who had a free kick in an identical position to Grainger, but his effort struck the underside of the bar before floating away to safety.

Former Fulham crowd favourite Geoff Horsfield returned to Craven Cottage for the first time since his £2.25million move in the summer and worked hard for little reward.

His partner Adebola, however, had better chances but wasted them and it was the dangerous Stan Lazaridis that caused Fulham most problems.

Birmingham began the day 20 points behind Fulham but with a game in hand and still in a play-off position. They looked good enough to remain in the top six and could even go higher if their performance in west London is anything to go by.

Fulham:
Taylor, Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Symons, Clark (Lewis 75), Goldbaek, Davis, Fernandes, Moller, Stolcers (Riedle 56).
Subs Not Used:
Hahnemann, Trollope, Neilson.
Booked: Brevett, Davis, Fernandes, Melville.

Birmingham:
Bennett, Gill, Eaden, Grainger, Sonner (Hughes 70), O'Connor, Purse, M Johnson, Lazaridis, Adebola (A Johnson 74), Horsfield.
Subs Not Used:
Poole, Burrows, Ndlovu.
Booked: O'Connor.
Goals: Grainger 49.
Att: 17,077

Referee: S Mathieson (Stockport)