Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has lauded the performance of goalkeeper Shay Given after he saved his side against Birmingham City at St Andrews on Sunday.

The Republic of Ireland international was brilliant for City in the 0-0 draw, making a string of fantastic saves as well as a second-half penalty save from Birmingham midfielder James McFadden.

Hughes described Given as a 'top drawer' shot-stopper and said he was delighted the 33-year old is one of his players.

"I gave Shay a glowing tribute before the game, not that he needed it, but he is an outstanding keeper," Hughes said.

"He has been top drawer for the majority of his career and I am very pleased that he is with Manchester City.

"He kept us in this game with Birmingham after we had struggled to impose ourselves for long periods.

"Birmingham chased us down and maybe we got sucked into the way Birmingham wanted to play and it was definitely one point gained rather than two points lost."

Hughes was not too perturbed about the result, saying his team was still picking up important points away from home.

"People talk about the four draws but three of them have been away from home so we have still been picking up points," he added.

"We made a flying start to the season and because of that people expected us to win every game.

"That is not going to happen this year and, if you look around, everyone in this league is dropping points.

"We needed to knuckle down today to get something from the game and that is what we managed even though we didn't play as well as we are capable of.

"We might have had a penalty near the end but, if we had won the game, I think it would have been unfair on Birmingham."