Hughton Expected More

Birmingham manager Chris Hughton was hoping for a little more than a draw against Bristol City on Saturday as he wanted to consolidate their place in the play-off places.

Struggling Bristol City looked to be on the crest of a wave as they moved into a 2-0 lead at St Andrews with goals from Stephen Pearson and Jon Stead

But just before half time Blues managed to grab themselves a lifeline when Marlon King netted via a deflection.

Nikola Zigic levelled things for Blues with plenty of time left on the clock for a winner but City failed to break through a stubborn Bristol defence.

Hughton said: ‘Overall it was a fair result. The pivotal moment for us was King’s goal which gave us a lift. We experienced a couple of problems losing Boaz Myhill just before the kick-off and having to take off Keith Fahey, who found the going a little tough.

‘The second-half performance got us back into the game and if anyone was going on to win it would have been us. You have to give Bristol City a lot of credit. They came with a game plan and did it very well. They will also be delighted with a point.

‘They scored two well-taken goals but you always look at yourself and ask ‘could we have done better?’ I think we could have done better. As a team we could have put more pressure on Bristol City.’