Birmingham 1 Wolves 1

Wolves struggled to break down 10-man Birmingham as they were forced to settle for a point in a battle under the St Andrew's sun.

Mick McCarthy's side took the lead through Steven Fletcher's seventh minute penalty but allowed Blues back into the game through Sebastian Larsson's 27th minute leveller, before Craig Gardner saw red for his second bookable offence two minutes later.

The point was only Wolves' second out of 15 and it meant they stayed locked in the relegation zone, a point from safety in second bottom with three games left.

And it came after another defensive howler allowed the opposition back in following Michael Mancienne's awful header to let in Larsson, who also hit the bar with a free kick.

Without doubt, the draw will be looked upon much more favourably by Blues than Wolves who - despite having an extra man for over an hour - failed to force goalkeeper Ben Foster into a single save.

McCarthy made two changes from the team beaten 3-0 at Stoke on Tuesday.

Kevin Foley and George Elokobi returned after missing the last two games for Christophe Berra, who dropped to the bench after several below-par performances, and Michael Kightly, who failed to make the squad.

Elokobi has made a surprisingly quick recovery from a torn hamstring.

Blues also made two changes after their 5-0 defeat against Liverpool, with Barry Ferguson and Wolves nemesis Kevin Phillips in for Keith Fahey and Alexander Hleb.

Wolves launched the first attack virtually from the kick off in what went on to be an incident-packed first-half.

With just 19 seconds on the clock, Foley's angled shot was blocked by Roger Johnson, after Fletcher teed him up from Karl Henry's deep left-footed cross.

In a frantic start, they got ahead in the seventh minute courtesy of Fletcher's coolly taken penalty after the impressive Stephen Ward – playing up front - was tripped by keeper Foster as he took the ball around him.

Foster's own poor kick instigated the danger, with Matt Jarvis seizing possession and threading Ward through in the inside left position.

The Blues goalkeeper was booked for the foul.

The goal was Fletcher's ninth of the season – taking him level as joint top scorer with Kevin Doyle - and seventh in the Premier League - but his first penalty for the club.

Referee Kevin Friend made it three yellow cards in the ninth minute when Jamie O'Hara and Gardner followed Foster into the book, after O'Hara's late tackle was followed by an angry reaction from the former Villa man.

Gardner was in the wars again on 15th minute when Stearman seemed to go through him, just inches outside the penalty area.

From the resulting free kick, Blues went within inches of equalising after Larsson's curling free kick hit the bar with goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey beaten.

But Larsson got his angles right in Blues' next attack in the 27th minute when he scored.

It was a soft goal from Wolves' point of view, as Mancienne produced an awful header from Foster's long kick, with Larsson left clean through to drill a volley through Hennessey's legs from 12 yards out.

Two minutes later, there was another flashpoint as Gardner was sent off for a second bookable offence, after Friend judged he had deliberately dived into a challenge with Jody Craddock.

It was his second red card of the season so he will be banned for two games.

Down to 10 men, Blues manager Alex McLeish sacrificed Phillips for Jean Beausejour on 32 minutes in a bid to match Wolves up in midfield.

With the stakes so high and Wolves in particular looking pumped up and showing signs of tension, there had hardly been any flowing football played.

But the visitors tried to redress the balance with a cross from Jarvis which saw the off-balance Foley fire wide left-footed from near the penalty spot, after being teed up by Ward.

Wolves made a switch at half-time, with Adam Hammill replacing Stearman, who was injured.

The switch saw Foley drop back to right-back with Hammill at wide right.

Henry became the third Wolves player to be booked after catching Lee Bowyer late in the 54th minute.

With a man advantage, Wolves should have been looking to put Blues to the sword, but McCarthy's men struggled to put together any meaningful possession.

Indeed, it was the hosts who created the next chance, Larsson curling a free kick several feet over the bar, after Foley fouled Beausejour.

Jarvis, who looked to have suffered a dead leg in an aerial challenge with Liam Ridgewell, was substituted in the 67th minute as Stephen Hunt made his latest comeback.

Wolves enjoyed plenty of possession but couldn't make it count, with too many poor final balls and they failed to trouble Foster.

Hammill saw a shot blocked by Stephen Carr, with Blues were happy to sit deep and soak up the pressure.