Match ends, Rotherham United 0, Birmingham City 0.
Birmingham City remain in relegation trouble after being held to a goalless draw at bottom side Rotherham, in a game that was delayed by a medical emergency in the crowd.
The players left the pitch for 30 minutes early on while medics attended to a fan.
Both sides struggled in front of goal in what was Steve Evans' first match at the helm since returning to Rotherham, following Leam Richardson's departure.
Jay Stansfield thought he had won it for the Blues late on, although his effort was ruled out as the points were shared.
Gary Rowett's side stay 21st but are now two points clear of Huddersfield Town with two games remaining.
Already-relegated Rotherham remain rock bottom on 24 points but at least made an unbeaten start to their second stint under Evans, ending a three-match losing run.
Birmingham started on the front foot, with Tyler Roberts volleying wide after being picked out by Keshi Anderson.
Oli Burke's slick play on the right led to Anderson shooting from close range, although Viktor Johansson did well to deny the forward.
Rotherham's already thin squad became further stretched as Arvin Appiah and Cohen Bramall replaced Cafu and Peter Kioso respectively.
The changes did little to help the flow of what was already a lacklustre contest between two sides at the bottom end of the table.
The pattern of the second half remained the same, although the visitors looked on course for a crucial three points when Stansfield fired beyond Johansson in the 76th minute, only for the assistant referee's flag to go up to ensure the game ended goalless.
Birmingham now face a huge game at relegation rivals Huddersfield on Saturday, where they could secure their safety with victory.
Rotherham United boss Steve Evans:
"I thought it (performance) was excellent. We're big believers in not just the eyes but the stats.
"We probably lacked a bit of quality or a bit of luck in the final third, but that seems heavily critical because we've lost key players again.
"We come in and we go back to work because we need to go and produce and have a big performance against Bristol City and finish it properly against Cardiff City and then we go to work."
Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett:
"There were elements of the performance that were lacking that we really needed to go and win the game.
"You know it's going to be tough against Steve's [Evans] sides because they are incredibly direct and play forward really early, make it a real scrap and you've got to find the moments in the game to show real composure.
"I'm hoping that the fan that was ill, I'm hoping that they're OK. I thought the parademics responded brilliantly."
Line-ups
Rotherham
Formation 4-3-1-2
- 1Johansson
- 40KiosoSubstituted forBramallat 37'minutes
- 21PeltierBooked at 87mins
- 24HumphreysBooked at 52mins
- 28Revan
- 18Rathbone
- 12Rinomhota
- 7Ribeiro DiasSubstituted forAppiahat 31'minutes
- 22Odoffin
- 10HugillBooked at 51minsSubstituted forEavesat 81'minutesBooked at 84mins
- 29Nombe
Substitutes
- 3Bramall
- 9Eaves
- 20Hall
- 26Phillips
- 30Appiah
- 38Seriki
- 42Hatton
Birmingham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 21Ruddy
- 2Laird
- 6Bielik
- 5Sanderson
- 3Buchanan
- 13Paik Seung-ho
- 34Sunjic
- 45BurkeSubstituted forMiyoshiat 45'minutes
- 8RobertsSubstituted forBacunaat 59'minutes
- 14AndersonBooked at 63minsSubstituted forDembéléat 77'minutes
- 28StansfieldBooked at 76minsSubstituted forHoganat 89'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Etheridge
- 4Roberts
- 7Bacuna
- 9Hogan
- 11Miyoshi
- 17Dembélé
- 19James
- 20Gardner
- 35Hall
- Referee:
- Keith Stroud
- Attendance:
- 11,001
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home47%
- Away53%
- Shots
- Home11
- Away6
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away2
- Corners
- Home7
- Away6
- Fouls
- Home16
- Away11
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Rotherham United 0, Birmingham City 0.
Post update
Corner, Rotherham United. Conceded by John Ruddy.
Post update
Attempt saved. Sebastian Revan (Rotherham United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Oliver Rathbone.
Post update
Siriki Dembélé (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Hakeem Odoffin (Rotherham United).
Post update
Attempt saved. Koji Miyoshi (Birmingham City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Krystian Bielik with a through ball.
Post update
Ethan Laird (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Tom Eaves (Rotherham United).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Cohen Bramall (Rotherham United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Substitution
Substitution, Birmingham City. Scott Hogan replaces Jay Stansfield.
Post update
Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Sebastian Revan.
Booking
Lee Peltier (Rotherham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Siriki Dembélé (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Lee Peltier (Rotherham United).
Post update
Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Lee Peltier.
Booking
Tom Eaves (Rotherham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Ethan Laird (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Tom Eaves (Rotherham United).
Substitution
Substitution, Rotherham United. Tom Eaves replaces Jordan Hugill because of an injury.
Comments
Join the conversation
Kudos to all Blues for the generous response to today's emergency worker's efforts. Respect.
Don’t deserve to stay up…might need to hit rock bottom & rebuild from the bottom up.
If you can’t win must win games at home to Cardiff & relegated Rotherham then as much as I don’t like saying it…we deserve to go.
Totally missed an open goal today.
Probably us & Huddersfield will be looking consoling each other next week as Sheffield W
Won’t believe it.
Mr rowett ,what are you doing playing burke ????? Cuz it's only Rotherham??
Sleep walking into relegation
Why change the team from last week against cov
Can't see us getting out of this now
Just hope the gaffa does a job on Wednesday
Just hope the chap that was attended to is ok.