Howard Webb didn’t bother playing the minimum five minutes the fourth official had indicated should be added and he won’t get many complaints for bringing this laborious goalless derby to a premature end. Preventing the winning streak being extended to seven games will feel like a big victory for City, but we’ll be left looking at the performances of Ciaran Clark and passion shown by Nigel Reo-Coker for positives.

The teamsheet suggested that Houllier was going to set the home side out in a 5-4-1 and look to Warnock and Luke Young to provide some width to get behind Birmingham, but in the end it was a far less adventurous 4-5-1 with young Ciaran Clark anchoring Reo-Coker and Steve Sidwell in central midfield.

As it happened, Birmingham City controlled much of the first half and were in Villa’s third frequently enough that Clark did indeed drop into the back line creating a five man defense. At home. To Birmingham City.

The first half was particularly uninspiring, aside from Emile Heskey just failing to get on the end of a lovely through ball from Ashley Young, Villa created precisely nothing during the opening 45 minutes. Not a single attempt on goal. Zip. City even managed to swing the possession in their favour during the closing 15 minutes of the half.

The second half was much more positive, but a couple of niggly tackles, mostly featuring Nigel Reo-Coker and Craig Gardner, reminded us of some simmering tensions bubbling below the surface, threatening to boil over.

Curiously, with the game crying out for an injection of creativity as Villa finally started to show some purpose in their approach just shy of an hour, Barry Bannan was brought on to replace the persistently ineffectual Steve Sidwell. The diminutive Scot played very well and managed to unleash a lovely curled effort on goal that forced a decent save from Ben Foster, but it speaks volumes about where Stephen Ireland is right now.

Houllier made one final change; Carew replacing Reo-Coker in the 83rd minute purely because Coker’s booking five minutes earlier for lashing out a rogue boot at Craig Gardner’s derriere might have received harsher punishment from another referee.

Strange finish to the game, then, who would have predicted we’d finish this one in a 4-4-2 with Ciaran Clark and Barry Bannan as the central midfield pairing? Seeing Bannan challenge Nikola Zigic, the tallest player in the league, for a ball in the air at least provided a little light entertainment.

Clark will probably be many fans’ Man of the Match and deserved a goal from his brave header that bounced just wide and left him with a bloody nose after taking Foster’s fist full on in the face. Amazing how goalkeepers can get away with these things with impunity, but do more than breath on the keeper and it’s a free kick all day long.

Ashley Young went the closet in the end with a driven effort, darting into the box from the right and striking the outside of the woodwork. A late winner would have been extremely satisfying, of course, but hardly deserved.

Ultimately, aside from an assured, confident performance from Clark out of position in midfield, there are few positives to be highlighted from this one and I’m just glad it’s over, but disappointed with the approach.

The biggest concern right now: the last goal Villa scored in the Premier League was Marc Albrighton’s at White Hart Lane and three shots on target all game today, all of them in the second half, and the first effort on goal of any kind being Reo-Coker’s smart attempt in the 56th minute, there’s no great hopes of the trend changing radically any time soon.

Oh, and we’re in the bottom half of the table, but we’re as many points away from being in the top five as we are the bottom three. It’s tight still.