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David Davis (left) netted Birmingham's equaliser midway through the second half

Steve Bruce maintained his unbeaten start as Aston Villa manager as the second city derby at his former club Birmingham City ended in a draw.

Boyhood Villa fan Gary Gardner ran the length of the field to celebrate with 1,988 away fans after superbly heading the visitors in front after 29 minutes.

But fellow midfielder David Davis drilled in a low, right-footed shot to level for the hosts on 71 minutes.

Blues had more of the chances, three of them falling to Clayton Donaldson.

Villa also needed the help of a brave save from goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini after Jacques Maghoma had been sent clean through.

The worst miss from Blues' joint-top scorer Donaldson was his first-half header against the crossbar from virtually on the goal line. But, while Blues players protested that the ball had crossed the line, Villa scrambled clear.

Donaldson, who had shot over in the first half, screwed wide from 12 yards with the score still at 1-0, but Davis made amends for him, before matching Gardner's lung-power in the sheer length of his own celebratory gallop.

The highlight for the visitors was Gardner's looping header, which soared through the flailing arms of home goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

They came close to scoring again through Jonathan Kodjia, while a late cameo appearance from substitute Gabby Agbonlahor full of neat touches suggests his Villa career is far from over.

Gary Gardner's first-half goal was his first for Aston Villa

Bruce back at St Andrew's

Bruce's last second city derby game as Birmingham City boss was on 11 November 2007. Blues lost 2-1 and eight days later, with Carson Yeung's takeover looming, he resigned to take charge of Wigan Athletic.

Almost nine years on, so soon after another Blues takeover, he returned in the opposition dugout, to a warm, welcoming handshake from opposite number Gary Rowett as he made the familiar walk down the touchline to the dug-outs.

And, to keep everyone relatively happy, it ended in a share of the spoils and Bruce this time feeling a lot happier about his future job security.

Reaction

Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett told BBC Sport: "We deserved a point at the very least.

"David Davis took his goal very well and I was very pleased to get back into it after dominating the majority of it.

"The atmosphere was electric. We started really well with good balance and had a few chances, and then we conceded very poorly, which is really disappointing in a big derby. We didn't do our jobs properly.

"Clayton had a couple of chances. I felt at the time, with the header, that the ball had not crossed the line. But the bottom line is he should have scored. It was a big moment."

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce told BBC Sport: "It was a typical ferocious derby game, but it was a fair result. We showed a sort of resilience.

"Gary's got a very decent Championship side here, a bit similar to the Birmingham side I had here. They're up and at you, and that's why they're up at the top end.

"Wherever we go, we're Aston Villa and people want to turn us over because of who we are and what we are. I'm proud of the way we performed and got a result."

On his reception back at St Andrew's: "I've been in the game for 40 years and nearly 10 of them were here. I had some happy very happy times here and made a lot of friends. The reception was tame."