Wes Thomas has put Birmingham City into a 1-0 lead at the break in their League Cup clash against Gillingham at St Andrew's.
The Blues were the first to threaten when Andrew Shinnie found the run of Thomas in the box with a reverse pass, but the striker could only fire his effort over the bar.
Gillingham almost took the lead as Jake Hessenthaler capitalised on a mistake in the Birmingham defence and raided into the box, but his strike was well saved by Adam Legzdins.
Shinnie plunged forward through the midfield to carve out an opening for himself and fired at goal from 25 yards, but his effort sailed just over the bar.
The home side took the lead just before the break when Thomas reacted quickly to turn the ball into the net after Paul Robinson had been denied with a header from close range.