Neil Harris claimed Cardiff City were denied a penalty and Birmingham City should have been reduced to 10-men during their 1-1 draw at St. Andrews.

The draw – Cardiff’s sixth in their last nine games – leaves the Bluebirds five points adrift of the play-off places and left manager Harris again frustrated.

Harris claimed a penalty should have been awarded for Marc Roberts’s challenge on Lee Tomlin in the 56th minute.

He said: “At the time I thought it was a penalty. When you’ve got their player saying ‘We got away with that one, the ref’s had a disaster there’, you know it’s a penalty.

“I spoke to the referee straight after the game and he said he thought Lee left his leg in there, so contact was our player’s fault.

“So it’s not up to Lee to get his legs out of the way – if there’s contact, it’s a foul.”

Harris also thought Birmingham substitute Gary Gardner should have been sent off rather than booked for a tackle on Gavin Whyte in the 84th minute.

“If Sean Morrison is getting sent off at Leeds, then that has to be a red card,” he said.

“Jazz Richards was booked for a late tackle, that has to be a red.

“It’s not about (wanting) players to be sent off, or asking the ref to send players off, it’s about numerical advantage and trying to win games of football.”

Birmingham manager Pep Clotet countered: “I don’t think it was a sending-off. The ref was close and the linesman was there and they saw it very clearly.”

Jude Bellingham gave Blues a fourth-minute lead and was denied by goalkeeper Alex Smithies as Blues dominated the first half, while Jeremie Bela hit the bar.

But Cardiff responded strongly after the break and Tomlin deservedly levelled in the 63rd minute while Joe Bennett fired inches wide.