Graham Potter admitted he was relieved Swansea City escaped with a point as Garry Monk came within seconds of a winning return to the Liberty Stadium.
Oli McBurne denied Monk at the death as he snatched a second goal to ensure a 3-3 draw for the Swans at home to Monk’s Birmingham City.
It preserved the Swans’ unbeaten run – which now stretches to seven matches – but it means the gap to the play-off places is five points rather than just three.
“In the end, we are happy with a point and I’m pleased with the way the players kept going right until the end,” said Potter.
“We started well and were in control of the game, but we dropped our level in the second half and didn’t make the most of our extra man.
“We pushed and pushed right at the end and I’m pleased to keep our unbeaten run going. There was some good link-up play from Oli for the first goal and there were some positives individually, but we’re still a work in progress.”
Birmingham defender Kristian Pederson was sent off for two first-half bookings after Jacques Maghoma had cancelled out Dan James’ opener for the hosts.
In the second half McBurnie put Swansea back in front, but Blues captain Michael Morrison levelled and striker Che Adams curled a sublime strike into the bottom corner from 25 yards to turn the match on its head.
However, there was still time for McBurnie to bundle home an equaliser in the 94th minute as both teams had to settle for a point.
Blues boss Monk, who spent 10 years as a player with the Swans before taking over his manager, was making his first appearance in the opposition dug-out at the Liberty Stadium.
Monk said: “This game typified what we have been about all season. We have had to face a lot of adversity already and we had to do it again after going down to 10 men.
“Our response to that – especially in the second half – was fantastic. We keep proving we have a lot of character. I think the referee didn’t give himself a lot of leeway with his decisions in the first half.
“I’ve got very happy memories of my time at Swansea and it was great to see some old friends, but for the 90 minutes I was focused on getting a result for Birmingham.”
Swansea skipper Leroy Fer’s evening came to a premature end after only 16 minutes as he limped off to be replaced by Jay Fulton, and the captain is an injury doubt for Saturday’s match at Bristol City.
