Blues pushed Champions League hopefuls Manchester City all the way and did everything but score in another highly encouraging display in front of the St. Andrew's fans this afternoon.

Alex McLeish's side looked the better team for much of the contest and were only denied maximum points by the acrobatics of Shay Given in the City goal.

The Republic of Ireland international was the scourge of St. Andrew's when he was in goal for Newcastle on the day that Blues were relegated back in 2006 when he made save after save.

It was the same story again today as Given pulled off a string of saves to win his side a point, including a 55th minute penalty stop from James McFadden.

All that was missing was a goal in a purposeful and attacking performance from the hosts with Chucho again showing up well and collecting the man-of-the-match accolade for the second successive game.

McLeish kept faith with the same outfield players that secured last week's win over Sunderland.

The only change came in goal with Joe Hart ineligible to play against his parent club so long-serving goalkeeper Maik Taylor stepped in for his first league start of the season.

The home side made a good start to the game and created the first chance after some quick thinking from Barry Ferguson who nicked the ball off Gareth Barry before unleashing a low drive that flew just wide of the far post.

Christian Benitez then had two golden opportunities in the space of three minutes to open his goal-scoring account for the club.

First the Ecuadorian saw a deflected shot from the edge of the area tipped onto the post by Shay Given on nine minutes.

And the visiting keeper came to his team's rescue again when the Blues number 11 was sent clear but the Irish international narrowed the angle well and saved Benitez's shot with his legs.

It was a very promising period of play for McLeish's charges and one that deserved better reward.

The visitors threatened for the first time in the match on the 15 minute mark when Craig Bellamy's shot was blocked by a sliding tackle from Roger Johnson.

And then a combination of Johnson and Carr cleared the danger after Taylor had spilled Shaun Wright-Phillips' speculative long range effort.

Johnson threw himself in the way of another Bellamy shot as the visitors came more into the game but Blues weathered the brief City storm.

Given was called into action again as the lively James McFadden let fly with a 25-yard left-footed shot that was heading for the top corner before the City number one's intervention.

The action again swung to the opposite end as Taylor saved with his legs from Roque Santa Cruz after Wright-Phillips' solo run.

There was something of a lull in proceedings midway through the half but as the interval approached things livened up again as Blues were unlucky to break the deadlock.

After good work down the left from Seb Larsson, the ball came out to Lee Bowyer on the edge of the box and his goal-bound shot was clutched at the second attempt by Given with two Blues players waiting to pounce.

Half-time: Blues 0 Man City 0

Carlos Tevez was well off target with a 25-yard shot early in the second half whilst Benitez was marginally offside at the other end from McFadden's through ball as Blues looked to open up a resolute visiting defence.

McFadden was at the heart of Blues' best play and some more neat trickery from the winger took him to the byline and although the ball was marginally cleared it led to the award of a penalty.

Larsson went up with Nigel De Jong in an aerial challenge and the City midfielder handled the ball which was spotted by the referee who pointed immediately to the spot.

McFadden took the kick and hit it well enough but Given sprung to his left to turn the ball aside and deny the Scot a deserved goal.

The former Everton man was then booked for a foul before being replaced by Keith Fahey as McLeish opted to rotate his troops.

Blues continued to press and Jerome saw a header from a Larsson cross fly only a yard or so over the crossbar.

Man City responded with a stinging Tevez effort that Taylor did well to palm over the bar.

Johnson appeared to have sustained a bad injury when he was left writhing on the floor after producing another characteristic flying block but the defender carried on after several minutes of treatment.

Blues did make a change in the final stages with Kevin Phillips replacing Jerome but even six minutes of injury time couldn't help McLeish's team unlock the visitors' defence.

Unfortunately one blot on the afternoon was the sending off of Barry Ferguson for a second yellow card after a moment of madness as he jumped up and handled the ball as a City defender tried to take a quick throw-in.

The point moves Blues up to 14th in the table while the visitors are elevated to fourth.

Blues: Maik Taylor, Stephen Carr, Liam Ridgewell, Roger Johnson, Scott Dann, Seb Larsson, Lee Bowyer, Barry Ferguson, James McFadden (Keith Fahey 61), Cameron Jerome (Kevin Phillips 88), Christian Benitez.
Subs (not used): Colin Doyle, Gary McSheffrey, Stuart Parnaby, Lee Carsley, Gregory Vignal.
Bookings: Ferguson (28), Dann (45), McFadden (57)

Man City: Shay Given, Wayne Bridge, Pablo Zabaleta, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Roque Santa Cruz (Martin Petrov 66), Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott, Carlos Tevez, Vincent Kompany, Nigel De Jong (Stephen Ireland 60), Craig Bellamy.
Subs (not used): Stuart Taylor, Micah Richards, Michael Johnson, Sylvino, Vladimir Weiss.
Bookings: Bridge (55), Santa Cruz (63)

Attendance: 21,462 (2,421 away fans)

Download a free copy of the team sheet here Blues v Man CityTeamSheet 01-11-09