Birmingham City boss Chris Davies admitted his side fell short after their 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough F.C. on Monday night.
Two goals from Matt Targett and another from David Strelec secured a vital win for Boro in the Midlands, ending their three-match winless run under Kim Hellberg and keeping them four points clear of Millwall F.C. in third place. The result also made Middlesbrough just the second side to beat a Davies-led Birmingham team at home, following Hull City A.F.C.earlier in the season.
Giving his verdict, Davies admitted it was not a result his team is accustomed to but praised Middlesbrough’s progress. He said Boro had “gone up a level” since their previous meeting and surprised his side tactically by switching to a back five. From what he has seen, he believes Middlesbrough have a genuine chance in the promotion race, ranking them alongside some of the strongest teams his side have faced this season.
Despite that praise, Davies was frustrated by how Birmingham conceded. He felt his team started brightly, pressing well and controlling early phases, but described the opening goal as sloppy, pointing to a defensive line that was too high and a simple chipped pass that punished them. He also questioned whether the first goal was marginally offside but accepted it stemmed from his side’s own mistakes.
He labelled the second goal equally poor, calling it uncharacteristic as the ball bounced around before falling kindly for Middlesbrough. Although Birmingham improved after the break and pulled one back with a well-worked forward move, Davies said the third goal “killed the game,” believing his side still had momentum at 2-1 before another sequence of errors proved costly.
In his overall reflection, Davies was honest in his assessment. He noted there were few chances in the game and pointed out that Middlesbrough scored with all three of their shots on target. However, he admitted the bigger opportunities were clear-cut and conceded that Birmingham simply did not do enough to deserve a result.
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