Birmingham City were, up until the weekend, flying in League One. Heading into the last round of fixtures, Chris Davies’ side were undefeated in their first eight games of the campaign, winning seven and drawing one.
And when that run came to an end on Saturday as the Blues were beaten 1-0 by Charlton Athletic in a scruffy game at The Valley, Davies was understandably disappointed.
“I thought the performance was well below our normal level,” Davies said after the match. “It was our worst performance of the season I would say. We couldn’t create enough chances to score goals and then you leave yourself open to the opposition nicking a goal.”
Davies, who was awarded the Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month Award for September after guiding his side to three wins in three games, was particularly upset with the manner in which his side conceded, which was through a long-throw.
“It is as poor a goal conceded as you will see at any level of football,” he said. “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
On top of losing their first game of the season, Birmingham also lost their captain Krystian Bielik on Saturday. The Poland international was substituted just after half-time after picking up an injury.
He missed Birmingham’s 4-0 thrashing of Shrewsbury Town in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy on Tuesday, and Davies has now confirmed that his side will have to make do without the 26-year-old defender for an extended period.
“He got a bit of a nasty ankle knock at the weekend so he looks like he will be a few weeks at the very least,” Davies told Birmingham Live after the win over Shrewsbury.
Iwata injury not as bad as first feared
During Tuesday’s game, Birmingham also suffered another injury setback, this time to midfielder Tomoki Iwata, who, like Bielik, hurt his ankle and had to be withdrawn late on. Davies, however, told Birmingham Live that he’s more optimistic about Iwata’s injury.
“Tomoki got a knock on the ankle that he felt he couldn’t run off in the end,” said the Blues boss. “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.”
Next up for Birmingham is a trip to Lincoln City on October 19, as next week’s game with Cambridge United has been postponed until a yet undecided date due to international call-ups.