Charlton 0 Birmingham 0

Apr 11 2009

BIRMINGHAM moved back into second place in the Coca-Cola Championship but could only claim a point from their trip to rock-bottom Charlton.

City were leapfrogged by Sheffield United last night, and although they reclaimed an automatic promotion spot they are now four points behind leaders Wolves - whom they beat 2-0 earlier this week.

Worryingly for the visitors, there was little to distinguish between the side pushing for promotion to the top flight and the team all but doomed to League One.

And it was Charlton who should have taken all three points but Zheng Zhi fluffed a glorious chance to win the game late on.

The fact that the best player on display was a 17-year-old, Charlton's exciting rookie Jonjo Shelvey, summed up a disappointing game.

The midfielder has provided one of very few bright spots in Charlton's desperate season, and the south Londoners will be desperate to hold onto him if they are to bounce back next term.

Birmingham, for their part, started with just Cameron Jerome in attack but in the second half Kevin Phillips, Marcus Bent and James McFadden were all introduced to no avail.

Shelvey blasted a volley over the top and saw a curling effort comfortably held by Maik Taylor in the early stages.