Mark Robins ‘over the moon’ to see Stoke edge out Birmingham in ‘tight game’

Rival bosses Mark Robins and Chris Davies were united in their assessment of a result that leaves Stoke in unexpected nosebleed territory in the Championship.

Bosun Lawal’s first goal for the Potters settled this M6 derby after 21 minutes and moved his team second behind leaders Middlesbrough.

And while Robins was delighted with how his side’s first game after the international break panned out, opposite number Davies was left to regret Birmingham being left at the starting gate.

“We needed to start like we had in the previous games apart from the West Brom game,” said former Coventry chief Robins. “That was below par and I don’t want to be saying that too often.

“But the start we made, the intensity we showed and the quality we showed – because there was some brilliant attacking football – I was really pleased with.

“The only criticism is we need to be more clinical. If you have an extra touch and that gets closed down and the opportunity to shoot gets closed down it is frustrating for everybody.

“Otherwise, the level of commitment, the running, the intensity of that running and the brains they showed to close down and press was outstanding.

“To a man everybody played their part and I’m over moon to win the game because it was really tight.”

Lawal headed in Aaron Cresswell’s corner to win the points, while Sorba Thomas also struck an upright in the first half.

Birmingham suffered a second successive Championship shut-out and while they had the better of the game after half-time, ultimately they came up well short.

“We started the game too slowly,” said a frustrated Davies.

“That was the reason for the defeat. We were too slow to win duels, second balls and didn’t impose ourselves in what was going to be a challenging start.

“That culminated in them scoring a goal from a set piece, which was disappointing. To head it from that far away and to end up in the net, we didn’t do enough with first contact and then it loops in the net.

“It was frustrating to concede like that because ultimately it put them in a strong position and gave us a mountain to climb. Like our last match, we were on the back foot early because of that.

“But we stayed in there and didn’t concede a second goal. By half-time we looked more like ourselves and we continued from the start of the second all the way through to the end.

“We were the stronger side but without anything to show for it. We didn’t create enough meaningful chances, which has become a familiar story in the last two games.”