Birmingham’s belief is outstanding – John Eustace

Birmingham boss John Eustace saluted his players’ “character” after a hard-fought point against battling Millwall.

Eustace paid tribute to his team’s fightback after they slipped behind to a sixth-minute strike by Scotland star Kevin Nisbet.

Jay Stansfield struck minutes into the second-half to earn them a crucial point after Scott Hogan had earlier missed a penalty in an all-action encounter.

“We started the first-half very well and they scored against the run of play,” said Eustace.

“That’s the first time we have been behind this season. We finished the first-half very well.

“We were disappointed not to go in 1-1 at half-time (after Hogan missed his spot-kick).

“At half-time the lads drove the meeting. We played well in the second-half and scored a great goal. It shows great character.

“We have a proper belief in each other. The way we defended set-pieces was outstanding. Millwall are a very good Championship side.”

Saluting Stansfield after he’d smashed his second league goal on the spin, Eustace added: “He is top drawer, it was an excellent finish.

“He’s a great player, a young player. He wants to develop and to learn.

“He’s a fantastic finisher and he works his socks off, he had to come off with cramp.”

Millwall manager Gary Rowett said his side was in charge during the first 45 minutes, with Birmingham ending on top.

He said: “I hate using boring cliches but it was a game of two halves.

“In the first-half we had a lot of control. We penned them back in with our wing-backs.

“We got the early goal and it was a nice start. We had some good moments and we had some territorial advantage.”

The visitors thought they had doubled their lead after 20 minutes when Ryan Leonard fired in a George Saville corner.

But the stunning strike was disallowed after Leonard’s volley was judged to have hit Jake Cooper who was offside.

Rowett said: “I think Coops was just offside, it glanced off his head.

“It would have been a hell of a goal as well. That was disappointing for us. That just seemed to give them a tiny bit of a lift.

“We sat off them a bit in the second-half. We conceded a very poor goal from the final third. It was a beautiful strike.

“They penned us back a little bit and they were the better team in the final stages of the action.

“But I’m not displeased with our performance and the result.”