Garry Monk bemoans first half display after Birmingham held

Birmingham manager Garry Monk bemoaned the indifferent performance of his players following their 2-2 home draw with ipswich.

Monk was not happy with the below par first half performance as Ipswich surprisingly built up a two goal lead but was full of praise for the way his side fought back after the break.

The Birmingham boss admitted: “At half-time I would have taken off all 11 players but I did not have 11 substitutes!

“We were exceptional in the second half but you cannot afford to give away a period of the game, particularly at home, which we did in the first half when Ipswich scored their two goals.

“So far as I am concerned it is two points dropped and we are still seeking our first win at home.”

Birmingham dominated the early spell and threatened to over-run Ipswich only to find themselves two goals down at the break through strikes from Jon Nolan and Matthew Pennington, who suffered the ignominy of being sent off in the 87th minute following two yellow cards.

But Birmingham demonstrated their resilience when they were deeply indebted to the determination of Lukas Jutkiewicz as his two vital second half goals earned their fifth draw at St Andrew’s this season.

Monk admitted: “We have been pretty consistent. The first half against Ipswich was uncharacteristic for us. It is a long time since we had the dip in form we had in that period.

“We conceded two poor goals but the defining part of the game was the character and belief we displayed to get back into the game in the second half and that was great to see from the players.”

Monk also praised the individual determination of Jutkiewicz who scored Birmingham’s opening goal only two minutes into the second period to give the home side the encouragement to bombard a battling Ipswich.

Ipswich manager Paul Hurst has had a baptism of fire since taking over from Mick McCarthy and is still looking for his first win.

After watching their third successive draw, Hurst admitted that he was optimistic going in two goals ahead at half-time but was disappointed to concede two goals.

Hurst said: “We knew that Birmingham would come at us in the second half but to concede in the first two minutes was disappointing.

“We didn’t settle for a point but after the sending off we had ride out the game. There were a lot of positives to take from the game and leading 2-0 at the break it was very promising.

“But Birmingham’s first goal gave them a vital lift. My lads can take credit to the way we remained strong and picked up another good point for the second successive week and moved up another place.

“There are some players who are deflated but they did well to survive a late bombardment with some last ditch defending.”