Bristol City's Nathan Baker should have been sent off, says Birmingham boss Gary Rowett

Rival bosses John Pemberton and Gary Rowett both aired grievances after Bristol City and Birmingham played out a goalless draw in the Championship.

Blues boss Rowett insisted home defender Nathan Baker should have received a straight red card for a knee-high challenge that saw Jon Toral substituted in the first half.

And interim home manager Pemberton felt debutant Lee Tomlin should have been awarded a first-half penalty when going down under challenge from Paul Caddis. Instead the loanee from Bournemouth was booked for diving by referee Rob Lewis.

Rowett said: "It was a bad tackle by Baker. I have watched it again since the game ended and it looked even worse than it did at the time.

"Jon's knee has swollen up and we will have to wait to assess it. In my opinion it was an offence worthy of a straight red card, rather than a yellow."

Rowett felt his side were second-best during the opening period but improved after the interval, albeit without being able to make it count.

He said: "It was a blessing for us to get in half-time with the scoresheet blank. We didn't play with enough quality and Bristol were the better side, without creating too many clear chances.

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"We were much better after the break, but didn't show enough composure in the final third. There were several occasions when we tried to take too many touches.

"The way Bristol played suggested they may be in a false position. But we showed character on a day when we were not at our best."

The home side, who are in the bottom three of the Sky Bet Championship table, dominated the first half only to squander several chances with a lack of quality in front of goal.

During stoppage time before the interval the impressive Tomlin took on Caddis inside the box and went down with Robins fans yelling for a spot-kick.

Referee Lewis deemed it a dive and Pemberton said: "Lee tells me he was clipped. I don't see why he would go down when he would have had a clear shot.

"I am not having a go at the referee because it is a very difficult job. We are frustrated not to have taken all three points, but it wasn't down to bad luck."

Promotion-chasing Birmingham were more of a threat in the second half and it was Robins goalkeeper Richard O'Donnell who produced the best save, flying to his left on 66 minutes to keep out a long-range shot from substitute Jacques Maghoma.

But the hosts will feel they did enough to win and substitute Kieran Agard wasted their last opportunity when heading wide in the closing moments.

Pemberton added: "We didn't get on the end of enough crosses and when we did the finishing wasn't good enough. But we were playing a very good side and it could turn out to be an excellent point for us.

"Lee Tomlin showed some great touches in his first game for us and gave us that bit of extra quality on the ball. He picked up a foot injury, which is why he came off, but it was a very good debut.

"That's only two goals conceded in our last four games, all against good teams, which is a real positive for us."