Birmingham City head coach Chris Davies was delighted with the way Blues reacted from their shock defeat to Shrewsbury Town to impressively overcome Exeter City
Blues were beaten by a Shrewsbury side galvanised by new boss Gareth Ainsworth in his first match in charge at the weekend but did not show any lingering effects in Devon as Tomoki Iwata’s early strike put them in front at a sodden St James Park.
Jay Stansfield made sure of the points with a late penalty on an emotional night for the striker who began his career in the Exeter academy and whose late father Adam left such a legacy at.
“I was really happy with the performance – probably our best of the season,” Davies told BBC Radio WM.
“We created numerous chances, scored two good goals and they only had two touches in our box, so I’m delighted.
“We looked really dangerous in possession. There were multiple times, particularly in the first half we had them really pinned back and we could’ve had two of three goals.”
The win kept Birmingham firmly among the League One challengers in third place, one point behind Wrexham in second, with two games in hand and five points off leaders Wycombe Wanderers having played one match fewer.
The defeat in Shropshire was only their second in the league this season and Davies said the former leaders had to bounce back strongly.
“We knew we had to react and challenge the players to make sure that there was, from what was a really disappointing day on the weekend,” he added.
“To a man, every single one of them reacted.
“It was a good template for us – a night game and pouring down with rain – and we had to come and look like a proper team with the right attitude and we had that.”
Davies pays credit to Stansfield
Davies also paid tribute to Stansfield, who returned to his former club for the first time since his reported record £15m move to Birmingham in the summer.
Stansfield’s late father Adam, who died from cancer in 2010 at the age of 31, also played for the club and his shirt was displayed in the stand at St James Park during the match.
The Devon-born striker received a warm reception from the home fans, and returned his appreciation at the full-time whistle, having scored his 10th goal of the season to clinch the win for Blues.
“I don’t think there’s many people in the world who know exactly how Jay’s feeling,” Davies said.
“Credit to him, he didn’t let it [the emotion of the occasion] affect him. He was very focused, gave a really diligent performance, showed his quality and scored a goal.
“He’s family are very proud of him.”
