Blues made history tonight with a 12th game unbeaten in the top flight as Alex McLeish's side held reigning Premier League champions Manchester United to a draw at a chilly St. Andrew's.

The club worked hard behind the scenes to ensure that today's match was one of only two top flight fixtures to beat the weather this weekend and they were almost rewarded with a famous victory.

After surviving a first half onslaught from the visitors, the home side took the lead just before the break when Cameron Jerome pounced to fire home from close range.

But the unlucky Scott Dann scored an own goal 18 minutes into the second half to bring the game level.

After that it was Blues that created the best chances and looked the team most likely to win it but they eventually had to settle for a point.

Alex McLeish named the same starting side for the ninth Premier League game in a row with the boss keeping faith with the 11 players that had recorded a victory at Stoke in the final match of 2009.

United made two changes from the side that thrashed Wigan 5-0 in their previous league outing with Paul Scholes and Jonny Evans replacing Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov.

The visitors pressed early on and Darren Fletcher was presented with a good opportunity inside the area but saw his shot deflected wide off the back of Barry Ferguson.

United were the team showing more attacking threat and Scholes let fly from the edge of the area but another deflection diverted the ball wide of the target.

The best chance of the opening half hour fell to the right man for United as England striker Wayne Rooney latched onto Antonio Valencia's defence-splitting ball but in-form Joe Hart came to Blues' rescue.

The on-loan Manchester City keeper spread himself brilliantly and blocked Rooney's shot with his legs to keep his side on level terms.

Scholes then won his side a free-kick 25 yards out as he went over James McFadden's trailing leg as it continued to be one-way traffic.

But Lee Bowyer typified Blues' thou-shalt-not-pass spirit as he flung himself in front of Valencia's shot.

Referee Mark Clattenburg was not making himself many friends amongst the home faithful as he failed to give a free-kick after a clear foul on Christian Benitez - for the second time in the match.

Hart needed all of his six feet and three inches to claim Michael Carrick's miss-hit shot as it threatened to loop over him.

For all of United's pressure they still couldn't find a way through a determined Blues defence who put their bodies on the line on countless occasions.

And the stoic defending was rewarded at the other end as Blues pinched the lead against the run of play on 39 minutes.

Jerome won a corner for his side after Scholes deflected his shot for a corner.

United looked to have cleared the danger but Bowyer threw himself at the ball to head it back towards goal.

The ball hit Jonny Evans standing in front of the goal line but the United defender only construed to set up Jerome with the simplest of tasks to fire the ball into an unguarded net.

The Blues fans went wild and raised the volumes level to roar their team through to the break with the advantage in tact.

It was the home side that created the first opening of the second half. Benitez turned sharply inside the area but unfortunately his shot was straight at Tomas Kuszczak.

Blues wasted a great opening when Jerome broke clear on the right of the penalty area but with Benitez and McFadden both free in the middle, the goal scorer over-hit his pass and the chance was gone.

The hosts paid dearly for that error as United restored parity with 63 minutes on the clock.

Patrice Evra drove a dangerous ball into the area and the unfortunate Dann slid in and sent the ball past his own keeper.

Blues thought they had received a reprieve as the referee raised his flag, presumably for offside against one of the United players, but as it was the one of the home team that diverted the ball into the net, the goal stood.

McLeish's side looked to hit back a few minutes later as Benitez's exquisite turn left the United defence standing but the Ecuadorian was again denied by a good save from Kuszczak.

Scholes blasted over the bar with a vicious effort from outside the area which proved to be his last action as he was replaced by United debutant Mame Diouf and Blues made their first change as Keith Fahey replaced Seb Larsson.

For the second time in as many home games, Blues played the final few minutes facing ten men as Darren Fletcher was sent off for a trip on Cameron Jerome, which earned the United midfielder his second yellow card of the match.

Blues almost made it count straightaway as the ball dropped to Roger Johnson inside the area and the defender came close to opening his goal account for the club in sensational style with a volley but Kuszczak pulled off another save to frustrate the hosts.

Despite six minutes of 'Fergie time', Blues couldn't make their extra man tell but did push hard and gave their illustrious visitors some heart-stopping moments late on.

Blues: Joe Hart; Stephen Carr, Liam Ridgewell, Roger Johnson, Scott Dann; Sebastian Larsson (Keith Fahey 83), Lee Bowyer, Barry Ferguson, James McFadden; Cameron Jerome, Christian Benitez.
Subs (from): Maik Taylor, Martin Taylor, Kevin Phillips, Gary McSheffrey, Franck Queudrue, Damien Johnson.
Goal: Jerome (39)
Booking: Carr (76)

Man Utd: Tomas Kuszczak; Patrice Evra, Wes Brown, Rafael Da Silva, Jonny Evans; Ji-Sung Park (Ryan Giggs 65) Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes (Mame Diouf 81), Darren Fletcher, Antonio Valencia; Wayne Rooney.
Subs (from): Ben Amos, Gary Neville, Michael Owen, Anderson, Fabio Da Silva.
Goal: Dann og (63)
Sent off: Fletcher (85)

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)

Attendance: 28,907 (4,011 away fans)