"You look at them now, they're going into January, they're going to have all their players fit and I think it's going to be very, very close," said Birmingham's manager Steve Bruce.
"United are traditionally stronger in the second half of the season. Everybody's getting fit, everybody's back in contention and they want to be in striking distance when the tickly bit starts and the tickly bit doesn't start for another few weeks yet."
"We're disappointed we didn't score more but I think the performance was very good," said Ferguson, who suggested over the weekend that clubs would benefit from a winter break. "We have to win [all] our games - it's the nature of our club and what we expect, and winning's the only option for us. But the players showed a great will today - they were determined and confident on the ball and I thought we did very well."