Birmingham had to battle for a point at home to Swansea after being reduced to 10 men in the second half.
Birmingham stay third after goalless draw
Birmingham had to battle for a point at home to Swansea after being reduced to 10 men midway through the second half.
Swansea had controlled the match even before David Murphy's dismissal, which came for a second bookable offence.
However, the Welsh side could not make the breakthrough as substitutes Jason Scotland and Febian Brandy both spurned good opportunities and the game finished goalless.
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 using that to good effect, with Mark Gower, Darren Pratley and Angel Rangel all firing wide from distance.
The home side started to gain a slight foothold on the game as the first half wore on and Kevin Phillips fired a great chance wide of the target from only six yards after 22 minutes.
Confidence
But the Swans were not lacking confidence as the game started to open up.
Maik Taylor had to be alert to divert a Jordi Gomez effort wide that bounced awkwardly just in front of him as the away side again started to impose themselves on the contest prior to the interval.
Birmingham started the second half keen to make amends for their lacklustre display in the opening 45 minutes, but their Welsh opponents refused to allow them any time to impose their authority - keeping possession well and passing the ball around in a confident manner.
The lively James McFadden, who impressed throughout, roused a frustrated home crowd with his attacking intent as the half wore on.
Marcus Bent then headed inches over just before the hour mark before Radhi Jaidi flung himself in the way of Scotland's goalbound effort to keep the scores goalless.
The chance gave the Swans a new lease of life and they again rallied for the opener before matters went from bad to worse for Blues as Murphy was shown a second yellow card for bringing down Gomez.
Birmingham refused to settle for a point despite their numerical disadvantage and substitute Cameron Jerome fired just wide while Scotland miscued his chance at the other end.
Scotland then missed further opportunities to find the breakthrough while Brandy also wasted two great chances in the final 10 minutes.
But it was not to be as both sides had to settle for a point.
