b,ham city v stoke

Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen produced a superb second-half save to deny Birmingham their second home Premier League win in the space of 72 hours.

The Dane kept out a bullet header from Blues striker Garry O'Connor at full stretch from a Sebastian Larsson free-kick in the second half as the game ended goalless.

It was one of the few moments of excitement but both sides will probably be satisfied with a return of four points from their opening three matches of the campaign.

The two teams could not be faulted for effort and commitment in the hot conditions but there was a shortage of quality with only Blues midfielder Barry Ferguson showing any composure on the ball and ability to pass.

Stoke looked the more threatening in the opening 45 minutes and Birmingham had to be alert in dealing with a series of long Rory Delap throws into the box.

The home side, who had defeated Portsmouth at St Andrews on Wednesday, came more into the game after the introduction up front of record signing Christian Benitez and wide player Larsson.

Birmingham midfielder Lee Bowyer returned to the starting line-up, after completing a three game suspension for his sending off against Preston last season, and replaced Larsson.

Alex McLeish was forced to make two other changes with the injured Gregory Vignal (hip) and Cameron Jerome (ankle) replaced by Stuart Parnaby and Kevin Phillips .