Both sides had to survive late scares from corners, with Olivier Tebily foiled on the goal-line by Ronnie Bull, and Tim Cahill heading against the crossbar with the goal at his mercy.

Dublin drew a save from goalkeeper Nico Vaesen with a volley from Tim Cahill’s left-wing cross after 18 minutes, but each side’s final ball was wayward.

Millwall full-back Matt Lawrence would have been an unlikely man to break the deadlock, bombing forward to exchange passes with Dublin, but he lifted an attempted lob wide of the mark.

Little was working up front for either side in a full-blooded game full of crisp tackles and wayward passing.

But the game sparked to life after 38 minutes when Olivier Tebily won a towering header from Martin Grainger’s right-wing corner.

Tebily beat his marker to direct his effort goalwards only for the diminutive Ronnie Bull to clear off the line with his chest.

Within a minute Millwall had countered at the other end, and lifelong Lions fan Darren Purse was booked for a foul on the flying Tim Cahill.

But Birmingham cleared the resulting free-kick after an almighty goalmouth scramble, and continued to look dangerous, with Tebily again going close from a corner.

Cahill could have given Millwall the lead in injury-time but his header struck the crossbar after Vaesen made a mess of a Reid corner.