Krystian Pearce joined Blues Academy at just ten years of age and became a full time scholar in 2006.
Since then the tough tackling teenage defender has made remarkable progress in his fledgling career.
He was quickly installed as captain of Blues' U18's, he broke into the reserve team and was called up by England in the U17 World Cup in Korea, all in his first season as a full-time player.
Pearce, a centre half, was widely regarded as England's best player at the tournament and in October 2007 he was promoted to the England U19 squad.
Towards the end of 2007 he spent two months on loan at Notts County while still just 17 and earned rave reviews for his performances in the League Two side.
Then, on the January transfer deadline day in 2008, he made the step up to League One to sign on loan for Port Vale, where he remained for the rest of the season before returning to St. Andrew's.
Pearce joined League One side Scunthorpe United on a one month loan in August 2008 and this was later extended until the end of the 2008/09 season.
The defender went on to make 47 appearances for the Iron and helped them to gain promotion to the Championship via the play-offs.
In July 2009 Pearce joined Peterborough United on a season-long loan.