Aston Villa 1 Blackburn Rovers 1:Fabio Capello saw England candidates Scott Carson and Ashley Young make significant contributions but Aston Villa missed out on the chance to climb into a Champions League spot against Mark Hughes's side on Saturday.
Carson saved a first-half penalty from Matt Derbyshire before Roque Santa Cruz put the visitors ahead after 67 minutes with his 11th league goal of the campaign.
Young levelled six minutes later with a stunning 20 yard free-kick to boost his chances of being included in the squad to face Switzerland at Wembley on Wednesday week.
A poor match lacking in quality for long periods only sparked into life in the final quarter.
Villa extended their unbeaten league run to eight matches but failed to secure the victory that would have lifted them into fourth position with a draw a fair result.
Blackburn proved hard to break down as they limited Villa's attack to few scoring with Republic of Ireland international Steven Reid a combative figure in the centre of the park.
They have now collected eight points from their last four matches away from Ewood Park to press their own claims for a European spot.
And Santa Cruz certainly enjoys being on his travels as 10 of his 11 league goals have been in away games.
Villa defender Olof Mellberg was given a rapturous ovation by the Holte End in what could be his final game for the club before a possible move to Juventus before the January transfer window closes.
Victory would have lifted Villa above Everton into fourth spot in the table, but instead they moved up from fifth to sixth, a point above Liverpool who have two games in hand.
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