‘Drives me crazy’ - Birmingham City boss laments injuries to key players after Bristol City win

Lee Bowyer hailed the return from injury of Tahith Chong and Marc Roberts as key to Birmingham’s impressive display in their 2-1 win at Bristol City.

The visitors got off to a flying start and were in front inside two minutes, Manchester United loanee Chong sending a low right-footed shot past Dan Bentley from a narrow angle.

It was two after 13 minutes as Jordan Graham’s corner from the left was met by Nico Gordon’s well-directed header.

The hosts hit back three minutes after the break when Alex Scott converted a Jay Dasilva cross from the left from close range, but Birmingham finished the game strongly to leave boss Bowyer delighted by a strong performance.

Bowyer said: “It just shows what sort of season we might have had without all the injuries.

“We are a good side, but we have not been able to show it often enough because of all the team changes. That drives me crazy.

“Tahith has been out for four-and-half months. He was our most creative player before his injury and today, despite being rusty, he has scored and played well.

“Marc Roberts has also missed a lot of games and he was huge for us defending balls into our box.

“Lyle Taylor made a difference, returning up front, and Nico Gordon, who has also had fitness problems, got himself a goal.

“It was about time we started a game quickly and I felt we caught them by surprise early on.

“Whenever we won the ball, I felt as though we were going to score on the break, with our pace.

“If I have a small criticism, it is that we should have scored more, especially in the first half. At the end their keeper has made two great saves from Juninho Bacuna.

“Overall, I am very pleased, just frustrated at what we might have achieved with a fully-fit squad.”

It was a tough afternoon for young Bristol City right wing-back Sam Bell, substituted at half-time, along with experienced defender Timm Klose.

But manager Nigel Pearson felt that Bell, in particular, was let down by his team-mates.

Pearson said: “Sam is an excellent young player who poses a threat going forward and I told him not to worry.

“He needed more support from those around him. We were really poor today as a team from the start of the game.

“We have too many players incapable of putting back-to-back performances together and that makes life very difficult.

“That is a worry and if the squad is to develop going forwards we need to bring in more consistency.@

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.