*Aston Villa moved out of the relegation zone after coming from behind to earn a point from an engrossing derby with fellow strugglers Birmingham.*

The home side took the lead early in the second half through Roger Johnson’s close-range volley.

But Villa hit back through James Collins, who hammered home a flick-on from Gabriel Agbonlahor inside the box.

Villa hit the woodwork four times but Birmingham also had clear chances in a game either could have won.

In truth, a point does little to help either side in their quest to pull clear of the relegation zone but the psychological edge of pegging their rivals back and also exiting the bottom three - where they had languished for the first time since 2003 - will be a major boost for Villa.

They now have 22 points from the same number of games, are above 18th-placed Wigan on goals scored and a point behind Birmingham.

Villa manager Gerard Houllier labelled this a “must-win game” and his team selection reflected this, with John Carew recalled to partner Agbonlahor in attack. The move almost paid immediate dividends as Villa began the game firmly on the front foot.

The initiative, though, was initially gifted to them by home keeper Ben Foster, who appeared to still have a hangover from his mistake against West Ham in the Carling Cup last Tuesday when he nervously dribbled himself into trouble in the first minute.

When he eventually cleared, it was miscued straight to Agbonlahor who cut into a superb shooting position before blazing over, when he should have added to his record of five goals in the last six second-city derbies.

In contrast to the visitors, Birmingham stuck to a five-man midfield system, which included David Bentley - who impressed on his debut following his loan move from Tottenham.

Bentley’s first touch drew a scything foul from Richard Dunne - which earned the defender a yellow card. From Bentley’s poorly-delivered free-kick, Craig Gardner was able to salvage a shooting chance from range but this flew over the bar.

In keeping with what had gone before, Villa responded when Kyle Walker overlapped and dug out a cross for Agbonlahor, whose header was flicked on by Carew on to the bar and over.

Eventually, the game settled down - but even at half the pace of such a frantic opening it remained an open and engrossing affair, with Villa looking particular dangerous, especially through the overlapping Walker down the right.

Full-back Walker, on loan from Tottenham, again reached the byeline and dug out a cross for Carew, who struck the bar with a header but was also adjudged to have fouled Johnson.

The Birmingham goal was again rattled soon after when Ciaran Clark’s cross looped on to the top of the bar and over - this after Matt Derbyshire had failed to turn in a Gardner cross from close-range for Birmingham, as play continued to swing from end to end.

With five first-half minutes remaining, Birmingham appealed for a penalty when David Murphy tumbled under pressure from Marc Albrighton but referee Mark Clattenburg remained unmoved.

The home side would have opened the scoring a minute later but Collins was well-placed to divert Alexander Hleb’s goal-bound shot wide.

If the Blues ended the first half well, they began the second 45 minutes superbly, opening the scoring four minutes in.

Bentley laid off a free-kick for Gardner, whose 25-yard shot was bobbling wide until Murphy’s touch directed the ball to the centrally-placed Johnson to volley emphatically into the net.

Villa were almost level immediately when Clark’s fired cross from the left deflected off Johnson, but the ball bounced inches wide of the far post to spare defender the ignominy of cancelling out his own goal.

But the openness of the game suggested one goal would be insufficient to secure the points and so it proved as Villa hit back with just over 15 minutes to go.

Albrighton’s cross from the right was flicked on by Agbonlahor and Collins was on hand to lash the ball home, via a deflection off Birmingham’s Liam Ridgewell, with a swinging half-volley.

The game was now Villa’s for the taking. Downing saw a shot saved by Foster, and after Richard Dunne’s header was cleared off the line Collins could not repeat his goal-scoring efforts of earlier with the follow-up.

The visitors came even closer soon after when Nathan Delfouneso’s rasping 30-yard shot was tipped on to the bar and over by Foster.

However, the last chance fell to the home side and substitute striker Nikola Zigic’s header was inches away from giving Birmingham victory.