Birmingham boss Chris Davies surprised by 'quiet' Hawthorns atmosphere in midweek draw

Ryan Mason's hosts were once again unable to hold on to a lead despite having the advantage of Alex Mowatt's opener for more than an hour in the West Midlands derby.

But Blues frontman Marvin Ducksch headed in 12 minutes from time to make it five points dropped from winning positions in the last two games for the 17th-placed Baggies.

An at times open, watchable contest had its moments of excitement but also had its flat spells, something acknowledged by away boss Davies, who offered an unprompted assessment of the atmosphere inside The Hawthorns.

"You look back and think 'what was our week like, did we get it right?'" Davies said.

"I think local derbies can be...we weren't getting peppered by a team all over us, we just weren't at the very highest of our game we have been at recently.

"There was a bit of a flatness to it. It was quite I thought, quite quiet within the stadium as well, which surprised me.

"I thought it would be a bit more noisy in here for a local derby, but it went really flat and quiet within that.

"I just thought we weren't quick enough or sharp enough and needed to be better."

An attendance of 24,282 was given by Albion, up from recent figures against Sheffield Wednesday and then Oxford, where the gate had sunk to below 23,000 against the Yellows.

Empty seats have become more visible in recent weeks with Mason's side struggling for goals and to put opponents to the sword, albeit there has only been one home league defeat this term.

But, after Ducksch's late intervention, scores of home fans left in their droves to give an empty feel to The Hawthorns and an apparent lack of belief towards the finale and throughout stoppage time.

The draw was the first time friends Mason and Davies, colleagues on the Tottenham coaching staff for one season, have faced each other as senior head coaches.

Davies guided ambitious Blues to the League One title at the first attempt and currently has his side ninth - eight places but just three points better off than Albion.

Davies added: "I really enjoyed working with Ryan at Spurs when I did, coming up against each other - it is not about us, it's about our teams - it was a competitive match, weren't at our best but we take something.

"This is the Championship. You can be seventh one week and two weeks later you can be 17th - that's not an exaggeration - that is the league."

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