Chris Davies feels Birmingham are starting to show what they are capable of

Chris Davies is hoping Birmingham’s back-to-back 4-0 victories in the Championship act as a confidence-booster.

Blues manager Davies described his team’s efforts as “exceptional” as they followed up last Saturday’s four-goal triumph over Portsmouth by dishing out the same punishment to in-form Millwall.

Paik Seung-ho and Demarai Gray struck in the first half before Alex Cochrane’s thumping volley was added to by Jay Stansfield in a ruthless display.

“I’ve been saying to the players that I know what they’re capable of – but they have to prove that,” Davies said.

“There’s not been one day where I’ve sat there and thought, ‘We are miles away’ or ‘We’re not good enough’.

“I’ve told them numerous times that I believe in them a lot and that they have to bring it all together and show how good they are and the level they can get to in games.

“They have done that in the last two.

“I think they have put in performances, not just in the wins but in how we have played the games, with a real intensity, on the front foot.

“I wanted us to bring it all together and for them, for their confidence, to show what they can do at this level and I think this will help massively.”

The hosts opened the scoring in the 28th minute when Patrick Roberts created sufficient space to fire a ball across the area and Paik drilled a low left-foot finish into the corner of the net.

Davies’ side struck again in added time at the end of the first half when Stansfield teed up Gray to sidefoot his second goal of the season into an unguarded net.

Four minutes after the interval, Roberts saw a right-wing cross lofted to the edge of the area where Cochrane was waiting for the ball to come down and he caught it on the full, sending a rasping volley beyond Max Crocombe, who was unsighted by his own player.

Birmingham were not finished and scored a fourth when substitute Keshi Anderson’s short pass into Stansfield saw the striker win the battle for possession with his opponent before he slotted in his seventh of the season.

This was the first time Millwall had suffered defeat on their travels and ended a five-match unbeaten run.

And boss Alex Neil said: “We got into a couple of good positions early on. But the first goal was hugely disappointing.

“From our point of view, the timing of the second – on the stroke of half-time – was horrendous.

“At that stage, you think, ‘We need the next goal’, but we’re three down after 48, 49 minutes.

“We weren’t as good as we have been recently. We didn’t produce anywhere near the level we are capable of.

“We have been having a lot of credit recently and we’re going to suffer some criticism from this. But I can take that.”