Birmingham City played out a 1-1 draw against Charlton Athletic and Chris Davies and opposite number Nathan Jones had very different takes on the result at St Andrew’s
18:09, 13 Dec 2025Updated 18:17, 13 Dec 2025
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies
Chris Davies felt Birmingham City should have beaten Charlton Athletic – but conceded his players ‘went into protective mode too early’.
Blues were on course for a fifth straight home victory at half-time thanks to Christoph Klarer’s pinpoint header but a sluggish start to the second half invited Charlton pressure and substitute Tyreece Campbell made them pay.
Davies reacted: “I thought we got off to a really good start, I was really happy with the first half, I thought we played some really good football. I knew they were going to be that man-to-man press and it’s not always simple to play through it but I thought it was some of our best moves through a team with great link-up play. I really liked that.
“We scored a set piece goal, Demarai (Gray) hit the post, Patrick (Roberts) forced a save, I thought we were really good looking for the second goal.
“Second half we’ve come out and we haven’t got back into that rhythm quickly enough. It’s taken us to concede for us to get back to that again. It felt like we went into protective mode a little bit too early.
“You expect an away team to have a spell, maybe five or 10 minutes in a game, but within that they obviously scored their equalising goal. I do think the football could have been better in that first 15-20 minutes of the second half.
“We had to bounce back from that. I thought we showed it right to the very end, there was no lack of effort, we had a couple of moments. The keeper has made a very good save off Dimmy’s solo effort, Lewis (Koumas) has a reasonable chance with the header.”
OPINION
Alex Dicken
Blues had 17 shots, with six on target, compared to Charlton’s three attempts. The Addicks scored with their only shot on target.
Asked whether his team deserved more than their point, Davies said: “I think we did. I always say to the players, ‘You get what you deserve in football’. Luck in football is refereeing decisions and injuries, everything else is something that you can influence and control, whether that’s a little bit of lack of sharpness in the actions.
“I think we’ve had a long week and I think it was important back at home to show a better performance level at least and the first half was very encouraging, but we couldn’t quite sustain it.”
Marvin Ducksch of Birmingham City is challenged by Lloyd Jones of Charlton on a disappointing day(Image: Getty Images)
Charlton boss Nathan Jones disagreed with Davies and referenced a gilt-edged chance striker Miles Leaburn passed up in the first half.
The goal was gaping for Leaburn eight yards out after Blues goalkeeper Ryan Allsop got caught playing out from the back.
Jones commented: “Birmingham have a lot of possession, they have a lovely way of playing and they are well coached, but we had the big chances today. Leaburn has to score, it’s point-blank, he has to score.
“That’s the difference. Middlesbrough were bang, bang, clinical in what they do (on Tuesday), If we were that we would win today. They’ve had more possession but I thought we had the big, big chances of the game. To break the deadlock it’s been a header that’s magnificent.”
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