Chris Davies held his Birmingham City press conference at the training ground on Wednesday afternoon
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies
It was a quick turnaround for Chris Davies following Birmingham City’s first defeat of the season.
Little over 12 hours after Davies digested Blues’ Carabao Cup exit to Port Vale in the media suite at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park, he was back in front of the cameras at the Elite Performance and Innovation Centre in Henley-in-Arden.
Davies will be glad to shift his focus to Friday’s match against Leicester City after overseeing just his third defeat on home soil in 16 months as Blues manager.
The 40-year-old isn’t accustomed to losing and for the first time a Davies team left a St Andrew’s crowd thoroughly disappointed.
Previous defeats to Premier League outfits Fulham and Newcastle United were accompanied by spirited performances, whereas Blues were meagre against League One strugglers Vale.
Their sluggish play led to groans and frustration from an expectant crowd of over 21,000 – again, something Davies hasn’t been used to, but something he understands having shared their frustration on the touchline.
“It’s all coming from a good place because our fans are amazing,” said Davies. “Even at the end of the game, the way they supported the boys and applauded them all was really nice. That togetherness means a lot.
“It’s that feeling that we want to score a goal. We all want the same thing at that moment in the game which is to get the ball into their box and have a shot at goal.
“The challenge we had is when you leave it that late and they are in that 5-4-1 low block and they’ve got bodies there with no gaps, it can be hard.
“We maybe didn’t get the balance right in the speed of our game. I wanted it to be a little bit quicker in that period, just to switch the play and try and get a cross in.
“We were a little bit too slow with the build-up and I think that’s potentially where some of the anxiety built within the stands. I understand that and I feel exactly the same. We want to get a goal back for our club.
“The fans are amazing and typically suck the ball down that end and we normally end up getting something but we just couldn’t get it last night.”
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies
Moving onto Leicester, a club Davies knows extremely well having been assistant manager to Brendan Rodgers for four years at the King Power Stadium, Blues have the chance to make a statement in the Championship.
Leicester have endured a turbulent summer since suffering relegation from the Premier League but they still boast a squad many expect to win promotion.
Two players in particular, wingers Abdul Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi, will be key to their promotion prospects and Blues must keep them quiet.
Davies was able to give the fit-again Alex Cochrane 45 minutes against Vale and must choose between him and the in-form Ethan Laird at left-back to battle Leicester talisman Fatawu.
Davies said: “Alex has played more games for me than anyone else, he’s been great and really reliable – he’s got a quality left foot – and obviously we’ve got Ethan who has done a job at left-back.
“Their two wingers will be their key players this season, as they were when they went up last time. They are really dangerous, very direct, very wide, and very quick and skilful.
“In order to be effective against Leicester you have to defend their wide players well, there’s no doubt about that. It’s going to be an important part for us defensively.”
Mavididi actually missed Leicester’s meeting with Charlton last weekend as a precaution to ensure he has a chance of featuring against Blues, such is the importance Foxes boss Marti Cifuentes is placing on this fixture.
Davies commented: “Someone mentioned that to me which did surprise me actually. We are well respected and we have earned that with a decent start but I keep saying we are a promoted team, we’ve just come out of League One and we’re coming up against a team that’s just come down from the Premier League.
“I know the test it will be, knowing them and what they are like at home as well, but we have nothing to lose in some ways. We have to go for this because we’re coming to the end of the first block of games and a lot of the players will have a rest and a reset in the international break. We’re in a position to throw everything at it and Leicester will clearly be feeling the same.”
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