Cardiff and West Brom appeared to have one eye on Wembley as the FA Cup semi-finalists drew a blank in the Championship.

Steve Thompson and Gavin Rae had the Bluebirds' best chances while Ishmael Miller hit the woodwork for the visitors in what could prove to be a dress rehearsal for this year's FA Cup final.

It was a fair result on the balance of play, however the point will barely be welcomed by either side in their respective play-off and automatic promotion quests.

Albion remain fourth in the league table, while City, now unbeaten in seven, stay 12th.

There was no place in Dave Jones' 16-man squad for 17-year-old midfielder Aaron Ramsey - perhaps with Sunday's semi-final against Barnsley in mind - but Kevin McNaughton returned after injury.

Two other notable omissions were Kevin Phillips and Saturday's last-gasp hero Roman Bednar, who were both on the bench, while Neil Clement made his first start since returning from Hull.

Victory for freescoring Albion, comfortably the division's highest scorers, guaranteed them a return to the automatic places which made the decision to name Miller as a lone forward all the more surprising.

Just five minutes had passed when the home side's Rae and Paul Parry combined to superb effect to send Thompson clean through as the Baggies defence claimed offside. However, the Scot fired horribly over the bar.

It was not until the 24th minute that Albion created their first real chance when Robert Koren crossed to Zoltan Gera at the far post.

The Hungarian's shot was beyond Peter Enckelman but to the Finn's fortune, City defender Glenn Loovens was on hand to clear off the line.

Suddenly, Albion's confidence was restored and just a minute later Enckelman had to be down quickly to push away Miller's low, early drive for a corner.

Thompson was replaced by Warren Feeney on resumption but less than nine minutes passed before the Northern Ireland forward limped off.

Gera and Koren both failed to find the target from decent positions, but in the 54th minute Miller almost conjured a goal out of nothing.

With his back to goal 25 yards out there seemed to be nothing on for the Baggies striker, but he spun quickly and fired a ferocious shot which cannoned off the right-angle of post and bar.

It seemed only a matter of time before Baggies boss Tony Mowbray went on the offensive.

Bednar and Chris Brunt were introduced with a quarter of the game remaining, however Miller and Gera were the men to make way.

Jones' side began to grasp the initiative and Joe Ledley headed narrowly over with 21 minutes remaining before man of the match Trevor Sinclair produced the game's best moment of quality.

Sinclair looked every inch an England international as he took full advantage of Paul Robinson's underhit backpass to round Dean Kiely and square the ball to Rae.

The Scotland international seemed certain to score with Kiely nowhere to be seen but he was denied by Carl Hoefkens' last-ditch block.

Bednar and Sinclair both wasted glorious opportunities to steal the points late on but the pair were forced to settle for a point apiece ahead of their respective trips to Wembley.

Teams

Cardiff Enckelman, McNaughton, Loovens, Johnson, Capaldi, Rae,McPhail, Ledley, Sinclair, Parry (Whittingham 48),Thompson (Feeney 45), Feeney (Scimeca 54).

Subs Not Used: Oakes, Purse.

West Brom Kiely, Hoefkens, Albrechtsen, Clement, Robinson,Koren (Phillips 74), Greening, Gera (Brunt 67), Pele, Morrison,Miller (Bednar 66).

Subs Not Used: Danek, Barnett.

Booked: Clement.

Att: 13,915

Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).