Villa 0 Birmingham 0

Birmingham ended their dismal recent run of results against Villa by earning a deserved point in a fiercely-contested derby.

Blues, who kicked off having lost their last six ganes against their fiercest rivals, could easily have had a penalty when Nigel Reo-Coker appeared to handball in the first-half of a stalemate which never quite lived up to its billing.

The captain was at the centre of controversy again in the second period when replays showed he kicked out against former Villa midfielder Craig Gardner, but referee Howard Webb chose to only book him for the incident.

Villa ended the game strongly with Ciaran Clark and Ashley Young both going close in the final stages, but they were unable to find a way past Blues goalkeeper Ben Foster in what was a dress rehearsal for the sides' Carling Cup quarter-final battle next month.

Luke Young returned for the injured Habib Beye at right-back but the big surprise was the inclusion of Clark instead of Stephen Ireland, with the youngster asked to play a holding role in front of the back four.

Alexander Hleb was fit enough to start for Blues, whose midfield also included Gardner.

The game began at breakneck speed in typical derby style and Heskey got a sniff of a chance another former ex-Villa man, Liam Ridgewell, hit a sloppy backpass that put Foster in trouble but the Blues goalkeeper got his clearance away by a whisker.

Gardner, unsurprisingly, looked fired up for the contest and had Blues' first chance only for his shot to hit James Collins in the chest.

But Gardner soon went in the book early on for a trip on Reo-Coker which led to a heated altercation between the Villa captain and his old team-mate.

Reo-Coker could have easily got his name on the scoresheet on the half-hour mark after charging down a Foster clearance only for the ball to ricochet past the post.

However, the former West Ham midfielder could count himself fortunate when Webb waved away what was a strong Blues claim for a handball inside the box by the midfielder midway through the first half.

But this year's World Cup final official also showed leniency after deciding to only book Nikola Zigic for use of the elbow when he jumped for a challenge with Collins.

Blues finished the half by far the stronger of the sides and it took a crucial header from Warnock to cut out a teasing Sebastian Larsson free-kick just before the break.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel had to be down quickly to his left to keep out a low shot effort from the industrious Gardner, while Reo-Coker forced a decent save from Foster with a low drive.

The game sprang into life on 58 when a brilliant last-ditch block from Collins foiled what looked a corner-bound strike from Gardner while, down the other end, Roger Johnson made a superb tackle to deny former Blues striker Heskey.

Blues had a brilliant chance to win it when Cameron Jerome, just on as a substitute, got the better of Richard Dunne down the left channel.

But, much to the visitors' disappointment, his ball from the byline was straight into Friedel's arms with the unmarked Zigic waiting in the middle.

Barry Bannan had Foster at full stretch with a delightful curling effort with 10 minutes left and John Carew was then brought on for Reo-Coker in one final throw of the dice.

Houllier's change almost had the desired impact when the Norway star flicked on a header to the back post only for the onrushing Clark to head agonisingly past the post.

And, with a minute left on the clock, Villa came even closer when Ashley Young embarked on a mazy dribble down the left before unleashing a rocket against the right-angle of bar and post.