Birmingham 1 Coventry City 1

BIRMINGHAM boss Alex McLeish was left to rue his side’s failure to kill off Aston Villa as their derby clash ended in a 1-1 draw at St Andrew’s.

Roger Johnson gave the home side the lead early in the second period but a deflected shot from Villa centreback James Collins ensured the game ended all square.

McLeish felt his side had enough clear-cut opportunities when in front to wrap up the game in addition to having yet another penalty claim rejected, this time by referee Mark Clattenburg.

McLeish said: “It was probably a fair result overall. We have come a long way in a couple of years in terms of these derby games and the results.

“Had we been a bit more clinical at 1-0, we would have seen it through.

“Craig Gardner had a wonderful chance with a volley which he put wide and he is a guy you would normally want and trust in that situation.

“Brad Friedel also made a great save at that point from Matt Derbyshire and we had the chance to turn the screw.

“But we allowed Villa to come back into it, and gave away a few unnecessary freekicks and I was disappointed with the build-up to their equaliser.

“But the shot from Collins was not even on target before it hit someone and was deflected in.’’ McLeish voiced his concern before the game at City’s failure to win any penalties this season and felt his side again had a strong case when Marc Albrighton caught the legs of Birmingham full-back David Murphy.

McLeish said: “I don’t even claim for those now. I’ve got to be dignified after a game and the referee has got a tough job.

“But their guy (Albrighton) has caught the legs of our guy (Murphy) and I’ve certainly seen those given against us.”

Villa assistant manager Gary McAllister believes it is a psychological boost for his side to move out of the bottom three.

He said: “On reflection, we created some good chances in the opening five minutes but over the 90 minutes I thought it was a fair result, even though we hit the bar three times.

“It is a plus point psychologically to be out the bottom three when you look at the papers.

“But we are working hard and moving even further away from our current position.

‘‘We are aware a little run of results can move you up this league quickly because it is so tight at the moment.”