Blues ended their away day malaise with a heartening point at Wrexham.
And whilst the set-piece problem reared up again, they head into the international break in reasonable fettle.
Blues sit 15th in the Championship with 12 points from their nine outings. That’s three points from the Play-Off zone in this compacted division.
There is room for improvement, for sure, but also signs that all know what’s needed and are capable of taking matters up a notch or two.
Blues fell behind to a George Dobson glance from close range, after a corner was dealt with little oomph and conviction. Wrexham won the initial header, sending it towards Dobson in the six-yard box.
James Beadle made a vital stop from Lewis O’Brien three minutes later after Marc Leonard played a ‘blind’ pass round the corner, allowing him to intercept and move into the area.
Demarai Gray hoisted over a glorious chance to equalise just before the break and whilst Blues were not wretched, they were not convincing, either. They were all possession, no punch on a rainswept and windy evening in North Wales.
That changed 20 seconds into the second-half when Blues blocked a clearance to free Jay Stansfield in space. He slipped in Patrick Roberts, who made a lovely diagonal run, and the resultant touch and finish was classy and cool.
Thereafter, it was really all about Blues. Their play was slicker and quicker, they finished the stronger. But unfortunately, despite some scary moments for Wrexham in the box, another goal proved elusive. So 1-1 it ended.
Calm heads and a hurrying up were asked for during the interval, and Blues delivered, albeit not with the reward of a victory.
Chris Davies said: “We played a reasonable game, in the first-half, without being at our best. The goal we conceded was a poor one. We need more determination at corners. That should not be going into our net.
“I said to the players at half-time that it was important we stay calm. You can think ‘we’re 1-0 down, we’re doing something wrong’ and you can kind of lose your mind a bit.
“I said to them we are not playing a bad game, but we are not at our best. We can turn more, play forward more, make more forward runs, hurt them more than we think we can with possession of the ball. We can keep being dominant in this game but increase the tempo, increase the intensity. Be more forceful with the ball at times.
“I felt we did that. We won our duels, got turned, made good forward runs. There were gaps to exploit, but you need people to run without the ball.
“We definitely pushed on in the second-half and had moments around their goal.
“We play a different game to Wrexham. It needed to look like a Birmingham game, not a Wrexham game. If it looks like a Wrexham game for long enough, then they are going to hurt us with that.
“We imposed our game. Control of the ball, moved, opened them up at times, passed it really well.
“But we can’t keep going a goal down and expect to win, especially away.
“The determination after (the Wrexham goal, at corners) was better, but not enough with that first one.”
Blues had lost three straight on their travels without scoring. And they went into the fixture after a 2-2 home draw against Sheffield Wednesday, which made Davies’ mind up to act selection-wise.
Beadle replaced Ryan Allsop for his Blues league debut, Tomoki Iwata got the nod at right-back in the absence of both Ethan Laird and Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Leonard started when many expected Tommy Doyle to.
On Beadle, the manager explained: “We brought James in, an England Under-21 goalkeeper. He’s been training exceptionally well and at some point he needed to have a chance and I felt it was an opportunity to do it.
“He made some good saves, showed his presence. I thought he did well.”
“Ryan is very important to me. He’s the first player I ever signed as a manager. He has supported James very well. He took it very professionally.
“And it’s just a testament to the togetherness we have got. We are going to need them both, no doubt about it.”
Davies pointed out that it was Leonard’s first Championship start of his career.
“He handled it really well. One thing he has got is stamina. He can run all day. He competes well.
“I felt without Tomoki in there, Marc gives you that defensive presence. He wins his duels, he’s competitive. You saw some of his tackles and I wanted him to dictate the play, because he’s a good footballer.
“I said to him at half-time ‘you can turn more, and play forward more’. There is space to do it and he got better at it as it went on. I was pleased with his performance.”
