Birmingham City manager Chris Davies was seething after Blues conceded late to draw 1-1 with Northampton Town.
Davies has labelled Mitch Pinnock’s 96th-minute equaliser as the worst goal Blues have conceded so far this season.
Birmingham were all set to cruise to a narrow 1-0 victory courtesy of Jay Stansfield’s opener but a lapse of concentration at the death allowed Northampton to source a dramatic leveller deep in stoppage time.
Dion Sanderson and Christoph Klarer failed to deal with one long pass after the top and Tomoki Iwata then gave the ball away in his own area, allowing Pinnock to smash home for 1-1. Blues, dominant in possession throughout, should have been out of sight at that point and were made to rue their missed chances.
Davies, in disbelief that his side failed to score more than one goal from their 25 shots and one woodwork hit, used the post-match press conference to vent his frustrations at the horrendous defending that led to Northampton’s goal. Sanderson and Klarer will take some blame, as will Iwata.
“It feels like a loss. To concede a goal that we did in the last seconds of the game when you have no time to respond is difficult to take,” Davies told Birmingham Live.
“The goal was just a long ball and the centre-backs are there to deal with those balls. Instead, it’s just bounced down, one pass and one shot. It’s the poorest goal we’ve conceded this season and it’s really difficult to take.”
Birmingham, now with just two wins in their last five League One matches, have dropped to second in the English third tier, two points below the in-form Wycombe Wanderers. Blues do have a game in hand, though, and that’ll soon become two with next weekend’s clash with Stevenage postponed due to international call-ups.
