Birmingham City 0-0 Millwall: Lions extend Rowett's run against old side
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Millwall held Birmingham in check for large parts of the game
Gary Rowett continued his hold over former club Birmingham as Millwall claimed a point from a sterile stalemate at St Andrew's.
Lions boss Rowett stretched his unbeaten run against his old side to seven matches as a drab affair ended goalless.
The visitors created the better of the few chances on show with Blues keeper John Ruddy saving smartly to thwart Millwall substitute Tyler Burey's surging solo run.
The point keeps Millwall ninth, two points off the Championship play-off places, while Blues slip a place to 13th.
Since being sacked by Birmingham in 2016, Rowett's only two defeats against Blues came in 2018 during a brief, ill-fated spell as Stoke boss. With first Derby and latterly Millwall, he has won four and drawn six of his other 10 encounters.
His Lions side always looked the likeliest to break the deadlock in the West Midlands, with Zian Flemming twice going close in the first half, including a clever chip that landed on the roof of Ruddy's net.
However, Birmingham boast the Championship's joint meanest defence - with only 15 goals conceded in 18 games - and they continued their recent improvement with a hard-earned point.
It took them until stoppage time to register an effort on target, though, and even then Lukas Jutkiewicz's header was a routine save for Lions keeper George Long.
The stalemate was Millwall's fourth successive draw in their past four visits to St Andrew's, with Blues now winless in eight league games overall against the London side, a run dating back to 2018.
Birmingham boss John Eustace told BBC Radio WM:
"We had to show a different side to us tonight. It was never going to be a pretty game of football, the way the conditions were out there and the way Millwall set up, very professional and very good at what they do.
"It was always going to be a difficult night for us and I'm delighted with another clean sheet and another point on the board. I know we weren't as fluid as we want to be on the ball but we've defended our box with our lives.
"Our defensive record is the best in the league which is very pleasing and that's coming from a collective, from the whole squad, starting from the strikers back to John Ruddy.
"We conceded 75 goals last season which I think was the third or fourth worst in the league so when we came in that was something we wanted to improve on, and up to now we've done OK."
Millwall boss Gary Rowett told BBC Radio London 94.9:
"Birmingham have been very good at home in the last few games and have played with a real intensity - and I thought we dealt with that intensity very well.
"It's a very difficult place to come and the conditions were incredibly difficult as well - and I thought we coped really well. If I'm being honest I would have taken a point tonight and it was quite pleasing, a lot of the performance was good.
"We've battled, we competed and in the last four away games we've drawn two - should have won one of those - won one and lost one that we were disappointed with, so it's been a little bit better on the road and the players have responded.
"I can ask for a little bit more quality and composure at times but I can't ask for much more in terms of endeavour and fight."