Birmingham City were dominating League One until the weekend. Chris Davies’ team had gone undefeated in their first eight games of the season, winning seven and drawing one.
Davies was obviously disappointed when the Blues’ run came to an end on Saturday, when they were defeated 1-0 by Charlton Athletic at The Valley.
“I thought the performance was well below our normal level,” Davies stated following the game. “I believe that was our poorest performance of the season. We couldn’t create enough chances to score goals, therefore you leave yourself vulnerable to the opposition scoring.”
Davies, who received the Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month Award for September after leading his team to three wins in three games, was particularly furious with the way his team conceded, which was via a long-throw.
“It is as poor a goal conceded as you will see at any level of football,” added the Spaniard. “It is a long throw, [we] let it bounce, we let a player turn and swivel and score from the middle of the goal.”
Bielik out with “nasty” injury
Birmingham lost their first game of the season and lost their captain, Krystian Bielik, on Saturday. The Polish international was replaced just after halftime due to an injury.
He missed Birmingham’s 4-0 win against Shrewsbury Town in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy on Tuesday, and Davies has now revealed that his side will be without the 26-year-old defender for a prolonged period.
“He got a nasty ankle knock at the weekend, so he looks like he’ll be out for a few weeks,” Davies told Birmingham Live following the win against Shrewsbury.
Iwata injury not as bad as first feared
Birmingham experienced another injury setback on Tuesday, this time to midfielder Tomoki Iwata, who, like Bielik, injured his ankle and was forced to leave the game late. Davies, however, told Birmingham Live that he is more positive about Iwata’s injuries.
“Tomoki received a knock on the ankle and felt he couldn’t run away in the end,” stated the Blues manager. “I’m not sure on the extent of it, I don’t think it looks too bad on first look, but we will see tomorrow.”
Birmingham’s next game is against Lincoln City on October 19, as next week’s game against Cambridge United has been rescheduled for an undetermined date owing to international call-ups.
Lincoln are presently fourth in League One, four points behind the Blues, and have won three of their past four games across all competitions.
Birmingham won 3-1 in their last League Cup match in September 2004, with goals from Jesper Grønkjaer, Clinton Morrison, and Robbie Savage.
