Birmingham 0 Swansea 0
TEN-man Birmingham failed to reclaim a spot in the automatic promotion places after being held to a goalless draw by a dominant Swansea side.
The visitors, having drawn their last seven successive matches in the Coca-Cola Championship, enjoyed the better of the 90 minutes with Mark Gower, Darren Pratley and substitute Jason Scotland proving to be a constant menace.
Jordi Gomez forced a good save from Maik Taylor in the first half while Kevin Phillips blasted wide from close range for a Birmingham side who struggled to find a constant rhythm.
Scotland spurned a series of opportunities after the break while Febian Brandy was also guilty of missing two excellent chances as the hosts relied on some desperate defending after David Murphy saw red in the 68th minute for a second bookable offence.
The point means Blues remain third after promotion rivals Reading were held to a second successive draw at Southampton, while Swansea drop one place to 11th.
Blues reverted back to a 4-4-2 formation for the encounter, with Phillips and Marcus Bent once again leading the line and Cameron Jerome and Kemy Agustien on the bench.
Roberto Martinez also made changes up front while opting to play 4-5-1. Gorka Pintado was brought in as the lone striker with Gower also named in the starting XI. Scotland and Thomas Butler were among the substitutes.
But Swansea showed they were not to be overawed in the opening stages and took the game to Alex McLeish's high-flying Birmingham.
The visitors were enjoying plenty of joy down their left-hand channel and were
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