‘Problems at both ends of the pitch’

Jos Luhukay rued problems at both ends of the pitch as Wednesday slumped to a third successive defeat at Birmingham.

Steven Fletcher hit the woodwork within the first two minutes and finished well to put us in front but we failed to turn first-half domination into further goals. with Liam Palmer missing two chances, the second a shocker from six yards out.

Luhukay said: “In the first half we were on top and controlled the game, but we did not score our chances. If we had scored the second goal then Birmingham may have to had to take more risks and been more open as a result.

“In the second half Birmingham took their chances and, in the end, they deserved to win.

“It is disappointing when you take the lead away from home but fail to score the second and third goals.”

Reflecting on the defensive performance, Luhukay said: “We must defend better. It’s not only today – when you look at last Tuesday and last Friday, we have now given goals away in the past three games.

“You cannot do that at this level – every team has strikers who profit from that.”

He added: “You have periods where you must control the game and that’s only possible when you keep the ball.

“When you’re losing the ball too much, it gives your opponent spirit and also chances and that’s what happened.”

Many of the sellout travelling fans were shocked by the second-half substitution of Steven Fletcher, who had been our outstanding performer, with Lucas Joao coming on in his place.

Luhukay explained: “Lucas Joao is our top scorer and I thought maybe Steven was not maybe fresh enough.

“Lucas is fresh when he comes off the bench and he can score in every typical moment for us. It is not that I was not happy with Steven, not at all.”

 

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