Brum such a TV turn-off

AITOR KARANKA admits his Birmingham team are a telly switch-off at the moment but insists his long-term planning will make it a happy ending.

The Blues fans who have been tuning in from their living rooms are up in arms over a season of struggle and a lack of entertainment and goals.

Boss Karanka said: “I can understand them perfectly. If I was one of them I would be the same. But I am here to build and to make them happy, I want to be as high as possible.”

Neil Etheridge made sure of the draw with a brilliant save to push out a Murray Wallace bicycle kick.

Karanka added:

“It was a very good save. I said last week that he belongs in the Premier League and we are fortunate to have him. “

Birmingham were trying to avoid a third successive home defeat.

Millwall, meanwhile, had rolled out four successive draws before their visit to St Andrew’s.

Millwall manager Gary

Rowett said: “I don’t think we deserved a win as we lacked a bit of composure but it is another clean sheet and a difficult place to come to.”

Millwall played Tottenham’s 18-year-old loanee Troy Parrott because of an injury crisis.

The youngster could have provided the first telling blow but just failed to connect to Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s cross to open the scoring.

It threatened to become an afternoon for the nearly men as Lukas Jutkiewicz steered a header wide. And so it went on. Plenty of graft but not much light.

BIRM’HAM: Etheridge 7; Roberts 7, Dean 6, Friend 7; Colin 7, Sanchez 5, San Jose 5, Pedersen 6; Sunjic 6; Leko 5 (Bela 78), Jutkiewicz 5.

Unused subs: Prieto, Kieftenbeld, Hogan, ClarkeSalter, McGree, Gardner, Toral, Dacres-Cogley MILLWALL: Bialkowski 5; Skalak 6, Pearce 7, Hutchinson 6, Cooper 7, M Wallace 6; Woods 6, Leonard 6; J Wallace 7 (Thompson 86), Parrott 6 (Smith 62, 5), Bodvarsson 7 (Bradshaw 86). Unused subs: Fielding, Williams, Ferguson, Malone, Brown, Burey

MAN OF THE MATCH: Neil Etheridge. Great last-minute save in match where no-one stood out. REFEREE: Andy Woolmer 7.