Birmingham survived the Stoke onslaught to battle to a goalless draw in the Premier League at St Andrew’s.

Blues’ hearts were in mouths as Ricardo Fuller had a goal disallowed for the visitors in the second-half, for an apparent handball on the way in.

But the home side could have won the game as well had it not been for Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, who superbly palmed away Garry O’Connor’s header diving to his right.

And manager Alex McLeish settled for a point after the game, although he had hoped for more.

The Blues boss said: “It wasn’t a bad result, although we would have liked to have two wins back-to-back.

“It was a tough game against a resilient team, so we had to work hard to get people behind them.

“It’s a big step up into the Premier League but so far we have defended well,or and that is pleasing.”