Coventry and Birmingham were forced to settle for a point each as the Midlands derby at Highfield Road ended in a 1-1 draw.

The visitors were indebted to Geoff Horsfield's 81st-minute strike for keeping them within two points of the fifth-placed Sky Blues, who had taken the lead through Colin Healy after 61 minutes.

But a draw represented a fair result after an evenly-fought contest that took an hour to really get going.

Coventry had threatened as early as the third minute when Jay Bothroyd crossed for Colin Healy, but his header went wide.

A further opening came in the sixth minute when David Thompson shot from 25 yards, but he failed to find the target.

The hosts had slightly the better of the possession early on and threatened again through Youssef Safri after 18 minutes, but Michael Johnson was on hand to block the Moroccan's effort.

Lee Hughes also got in on the act two minutes later to finally force Nico Vaesen into action, but the Belgian goalkeeper was equal to his 25-yard strike.

Birmingham's chances remained few and far between and it was not until the 27th minute that Stern John was able to make an attempt on goal - although his shot was never likely to trouble Magnus Hedman.

Safri and Mo Konjic both went close at the other end as the Sky Blues stepped up the pressure, but genuine chances continued to elude them.

And they were nearly made to pay five minutes before half-time when Tommy Mooney looked to have set up Bryan Hughes for the opener, but the 25-year-old planted his left-foot shot wide of the target.

Coventry started the second half brightly and Birmingham were indebted to a fine save by Vaesen to prevent Horacio Carbonari opening the scoring from Safri's free-kick three minutes after the break.

Safri then took the resulting corner, from which Konjic headed goalwards but saw his effort blocked by new signing Olivier Tebily.

The second half continued in a similar vein to the first until Coventry finally broke the deadlock through Healy just after an hour's play.

Damien Johnson should have cancelled out the hosts' lead within six minutes but the Northern Ireland international shot wide from a good position inside the penalty area.

Coventry then had two excellent chances to double their lead. The first came from a Safri free-kick that went over the crossbar but Thompson was guilty of missing an excellent opportunity when he failed to convert Trollope's cross from six yards.

And Birmingham capitalised nine minutes from time when Horsfield arrived to dispatch Tebily's cross and pull the Blues back on level terms.

Hughes tried to snatch a winner for Coventry lead but his lob cleared the crossbar as well as Vaesen.

Teams

Coventry: Hedman, Quinn, Konjic, Carbonari, Shaw, Thompson, Safri, Healy, Trollope, Hughes (Zuniga 90), Bothroyd (Chippo 77).

Subs Not Used: Eustace, Hydlgaard, Betts.

Booked: Trollope.

Goals: Healy 61.

Birmingham: Vaesen, Kenna, Tebily, Michael Johnson, Grainger (Horsfield 77), Devlin (Damien Johnson 45), Hughes (Lazaridis 70), Carter, Tommy Williams, Mooney, John.

Subs Not Used: Bennett, Eaden.

Booked: Grainger.

Goals: Horsfield 81.

Att: 17,945

Ref: J Brandwood (Lichfield).