"Aside from" - Chris Davies sends classy message to his Birmingham City players after Bolton defeat | OneFootball

Blues' lengthy unbeaten run in League One is now over

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies has issued an "acknowledgement" to his players, as the club's 18-game unbeaten run in League One was ended by an in-form Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night and left his Blues squad "hurting".

After defeating their nearest promotion and title rivals, Wycombe Wanderers, at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on Saturday afternoon, a trip to the Toughsheet Community Stadium continued the theme of Blues coming up against sides vying for promotion or, at worst, a place in the play-offs, with seven of their last 10 outings coming against sides in the current top nine positions.

But, despite Emil Hansson netting his first goal for the club since October 10th after a recent return to full fitness, Steven Schumacher's in-form Whites hit back late in the first half through a powerful John McAtee effort that beat Bailey Peacock-Farrell at his near post, before strikes from George Thomason and Aaron Collins in the second period turned the game on its head.

And, whilst there was obvious disappointment from Davies as his side succumbed to their first defeat in the third tier since November 23rd, the 39-year-old has issued praise towards those in Royal Blue for putting in an array of consistent performances and results in said timeframe.

Chris Davies' reaction as Bolton Wanderers halt Birmingham City's unbeaten streak

Speaking after the loss, the former Tottenham Hotspur assistant highlighted circumstances which allowed the game to escape from Birmingham's grasp after Hansson's 23rd-minute drive which flew past Luke Southwood, as the West Midlands side played their 11th game in 35 days.

"Some of it was quite uncharacteristic from our point of view, there was potentially a little bit of fatigue in there and tired bodies but we started the game very well and scored a good goal," Davies told Birmingham Live.

"I was really disappointed to concede just before half-time but I thought we were by far the better team in that first half and that goal we conceded gave them a real lift. It gave them a bit of belief that they didn’t have beforehand.

"After that they were better than us and we were soft with the second goal and it was an uncharacteristically poor third goal from our point of view, then you’ve got a mountain to climb and we didn’t look like climbing that mountain," he added.

"Aside from the pain of the defeat, there’s an acknowledgement from me of what these players have done in these last 18 games, to go unbeaten since that Shrewsbury game and win the amount they have, they deserve credit for that. They are hurting in there, they are feeling it."

Bolton Wanderers defeat should not define Birmingham City's season

Whilst the past four months have been extremely successful for those associated with Blues, this midweek defeat does provide a reality check, with it being just a third in the league all season - of which all have come away from B9 too.

Injuries are slowly starting to rack up for Davies at this moment in time, however, with Ryan Allsop and Ethan Laird both absent from the matchday squad in Lancashire, although one positive for Bluenoses was the return of 20-goal man Jay Stansfield, who played a 23-minute cameo off the bench.

The main talking point from supporters was Peacock-Farrell's performance, with the former Burnley man starting a league game for the first time since September 28th, although his boss placed a large focus on what was good about the Northern Ireland international's game over the aforementioned question marks, which in particular, stemmed from McAtee's leveller.

"The first goal has gone hard and low, sometimes it can creep in there, I haven’t really slowed it down and analysed it back," Davies continued.

"Bailey’s performance was good. There were no major issues with Bailey.

"It’s not easy coming in out of the cold and into the team. His kicking was generally good and he has already proven he can be a good goalkeeper for us and he’s an important part of our squad," he concluded.

Despite the frustration of their heaviest defeat of the season, Birmingham remain nine points clear of Wycombe with 13 games to go, are still projected to hit 106 points and are still preserving an unbeaten home record.

They return to St Andrew's on Saturday to face Lincoln City for the third time this campaign, having defeated the Imps 3-1 at the LNER Stadium and 2-1 in B9 in the FA Cup Third Round.