Birmingham face an FA Cup replay at St Andrew’s could have ended up out of the competition at Nottingham Forest.

The home side were handed a golden chance to score the goal that would have settled the tie at the City Ground, but former Albion striker Robert Earnshaw missed the penalty kick in the second-half.

His attempt to lift the ball over Blues goalkeeper Joe Hart saw his effort go over the crossbar, after Gregory Vignal had tangled with Paul Anderson in the box.

It was to prove costly as a replay looms on Tuesday night which neither club would have wanted, with Alex McLeish’s side going great guns in the Premier League and Forest chasing promotion in the Championship.

But the lower league team could also have gone out, with Cameron Jerome thwarted by some outstanding goalkeeping from Lee Camp in the first half, while Kevin Phillips also rattled a post late on.

The evergreen former Albion and Villa striker was also thwarted by Camp rushing off his line to gather.