Birmingham City manager Chris Davies was speaking after his team drew 1-1 with Sheffield United
18:19, 14 Mar 2026Updated 18:27, 14 Mar 2026
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies
Chris Davies put Jack Robinson’s half-time hooking down to his yellow card – not the bizarre handball which gifted Sheffield United a penalty in their draw with Birmingham City.
Blues were held to a 1-1 draw at St Andrew’s by Sheffield United in a result that did little for either team’s play-off aspirations.
Patrick Bamford cancelled out Marvin Ducksch’s stunning free-kick in a first half packed with incident.
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Femi Seriki was sent off for the Blades and Sydie Peck missed a penalty after Robinson inexplicably handled the ball inside his own box.
Robinson picked the ball up and placed it on the ground, as if he was about to take a goal-kick, but play was still live when James Beadle rolled it to him.
Referee Tim Robinson was left with no choice but to award the penalty and booked his namesake.
“It’s a strange one but it’s a penalty obviously,” said Blues boss Davies. “A bizarre situation but James had to regain his concentration quickly for that and fair play, he did that.
“(Christoph) Klarer was very important with the rebound actually. As much as the save was important, Klarer’s rebound was equally important.”
Jonathan Panzo replaced Robinson at half-time.
Asked why, Davies replied: “Jack was on a yellow card and he was our only player on a yellow. Any little slip or late tackle and the referee can even the game up and give a second yellow, then you’re 10 v 10, so it was a simple tactical change to avoid it.”
Blues were unable to press home their advantage in the second half. Ducksch hit the woodwork twice after the break having already been denied by the post in the first half. Ibrahim Osman also saw a shot strike the post.
“Naturally we’re frustrated with the outcome because we felt that with that man advantage we could have gone on to win the game,” Davies reflected.
“I was pleased with how we started 11 v 11, we had a good sharpness about us and we were playing well and deservedly go a goal up.
“They had the man off and we scored a great free-kick through Marvin.
“From that point I was confident that we would go on. The real turning point is the goal just before half-time – a goal out of nothing – it gave them something to hang on to. It was really sloppy from our point of view.
“Second half, my feeling is that we were huffing and puffing and the players gave everything. We hit the woodwork four times and if one of them sneaks in, it’s a pretty comfortable win for us, I think.
“In the end, we couldn’t get that goal and we had to settle for a point.”
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