Sunday 1 February 2015 21:38, UK
Norwich manager Alex Neil celebrated the first clean sheet of his tenure but felt his side deserved more than a goalless draw at Birmingham.
The Scot's third match in charge of the Sky Bet Championship play-off hopefuls saw the Canaries enjoy plenty of possession without finding a winner at St Andrew's.
However, their resolute defence - and improved performance after last week's 2-1 loss to Brentford - did please the former Hamilton player-manager.
"It was a case of us dominating the ball for most of the game and them sitting in," Neil said.
"I thought we were the better side. Nathan Redmond had a good chance for us in the first half and Russell Martin had one in the second.
"I thought we moved the ball through the zones while Birmingham were much more direct - albeit just as effective - but we were the dominant side.
"We just didn't have that cutting edge. I'm disappointed with the draw. As far as we're concerned, it was two points dropped.
"But I'm delighted with a first clean sheet. We knew we had to solidify and stop conceding and we'd worked on being secure all week. But also when we get to the top end of the pitch we need to be a bit quicker in tempo going forward."
Birmingham's run of three games without a win in all competitions was extended to four, but manager Gary Rowett's glass remained half-full.
"It was a very tight affair," he said. "There wasn't as much quality on show as we would have liked, but some games are like that.
"We had to make sure we were resolute and picked up a point at home and kept a clean sheet.
"Both teams found it difficult to create any real space going forward and when we did get into good positions, we didn't quite have the quality or attacking belief that we've shown in recent weeks. That's when you have to dig in and take something from the game against a good Norwich side."
Birmingham had early chances through David Cotterill and Demarai Gray, while Nathan Redmond's powerful drive forced a good save from home goalkeeper Darren Randolph before the break.
Early in the second half Lloyd Dyer carved out a good chance for Blues when he jinked his way into the box from the left before seeing his close-range shot saved well by the imposing figure of John Ruddy.
Norwich captain Russell Martin blasted over the bar with his right foot and the same man then had a header cleared off the line.
Substitutes Andrew Shinnie and Nikola Zigic had half-chances to win it for the home side but both missed the target.
