'That's not football' - Birmingham City boss Chris Davies speaks out on 'blatant' incident in Stoke draw

Birmingham City missed out on the opportunity to go within three points of the Championship top six on Saturday as Stoke equalised late on to leave St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park with a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw.

Centre-back Phil Neumann scored an unfortunate own goal with less than 20 minutes to play after Tomoki Iwata had given Blues a first-half lead, as the two play-off hopefuls were forced to settle for a point which did little to help either of their respective ambitions.

Chris Davies’ side have been strong at home this season but could not make that count against the Potters, due in part to a controversial first-half incident which saw Iwata denied an opening goal before he eventually broke the deadlock.

The Japanese had the ball in the net from a Jay Stansfield centre following a Tommy Doyle free-kick, but the whistle had already been blown for a foul by Marvin Ducksch in the build-up – something at which Blues boss Davies expressed his bewilderment at the final whistle.

Davies’ frustration as controversial decision costs Birmingham victory

Reported by Sky Sports, Davies told reporters on the incident: "If that's a foul, what Ducksch has done there, then what their full-backs were doing to [August] Priske… I don't know what this is because they were throwing him to the ground every time he was trying to run forwards.

"Ducksch just got his body in there so based on consistency, no, [it] definitely should not have been disallowed.

"The things that were happening to him in the game, that's not English football or the Championship. They are just blatant fouls. The Championship is physical but between the referee and the fourth official, they have to spot if a player is obstructing another or throwing a player to the ground."

Priske arrival headlines busy January window for Blues

Birmingham will feel that Davies was right to express his frustration at the incident which went against his side, particularly in the context of his concerns surrounding the treatment of new signing Priske which went unpunished.

Priske signed for £6 million from Swedish club Djurgarden earlier this week and made his Championship debut on Saturday, replacing fellow new signing Ibrahim Osman in the 56th minute. The 21-year-old Dane was given a harsh introduction to English football according to his less-than impressed manager, who will hope that the 6ft 5in striker can prove a hit in the Second City following his big move.

Blues are expected to remain active in the closing days of the January window, with Carlos Vicente speculated to their next arrival after they made an ‘astronomical offer’ for the Alaves winger.

"It's important in January to get some fresh faces in and the ones we've bought in are young and that brings a certain energy and I think it's just what the squad needed," manager Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"[Priske] is a fantastic character and the type of striker who can link, play technically and be physical. He's one that will get better season by season. It's not going to be help piling expectation on him immediately - he's new, young and we need to give him space to breathe and grow. We've signed a striker I'm excited about.

"We've got off to a reasonable start. There will probably be another two or three in and maybe two or three out. There are no guarantees but that's what I'm hoping for."