Blues hold Manchester United but stay in the bottom three

Birmingham City held Manchester United to a 2-2 draw at St Andrew's on 28 December, but the point was not enough to lift them out of the Premiership relegation zone.

Jamie Clapham gave Blues an early lead and Walter Pandiani scored their second, but United, who are second in the table, fought back to share the points.

A spirited display

The home crowd were given plenty to cheer. Clapham put Blues ahead after 18 minutes, and the team held their own against one of the best sides in the country. Pandiani's goal 12 minutes from time gave Blues hope of a famous win, but they could not hold on.

Manager Steve Bruce, who spent nine years as a player at Old Trafford and captained United to the league title, will take heart from the performance. His side have shown that they can compete with the best, but they need to turn performances like this into wins.

A difficult season

Blues are 19th in the table and have spent most of the season in the bottom three. It has been a disappointing campaign for a club that finished 12th last season and whose chairman, David Gold, spoke in the summer about challenging for a place near the top of the table.

December has been a hard month. Blues lost at home to West Ham and away to Manchester City and Tottenham, and were knocked out of the League Cup by Manchester United at St Andrew's. Their only league win of the month came against Fulham, when Nicky Butt, on loan from Newcastle, scored the only goal.

The club's hopes rest on players such as Emile Heskey and Mikael Forssell, who have struggled for goals this season. Forssell, who scored 17 league goals on loan at St Andrew's two seasons ago, has had injury problems since joining permanently.

Looking to January

Bruce will be hoping to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window. The board have backed him before, and the club has been in this position before, recovering from a winter slump last season to finish comfortably mid-table.

The fixture list does not get any easier, with a trip to Chelsea, the league leaders, to come on New Year's Eve. After that, Blues face a run of games against fellow strugglers that could decide their season.

The derby factor

One source of disappointment for fans this season has been the derby. Villa won at St Andrew's in October, ending Blues' long unbeaten run against their neighbours. The return game at Villa Park in April could be crucial for both sides.

For now, Bruce and his players will be looking to build on the spirit they showed against United. With half the season still to go, there is time to climb out of trouble, but they will need to start winning games soon.