Birmingham boss Tony Mowbray frustrated despite late equaliser against Swansea

Posted Sunday, January 14, 2024 by PA

Birmingham’s new manager Tony Mowbray admitted he was frustrated despite rescuing a dramatic 2-2 draw against Swansea at St Andrew’s.

Substitute Jordan James drilled home from 25 yards in the fifth minute of added time when Blues were struggling to create chances after plenty of opportunities in the first half.

Mowbray thought a point was the least the team deserved in his first game in charge after they dominated for the first hour.

“I thought we could have had scored five goals with the chances we had in the first half,” said Mowbray, who has replaced Wayne Rooney.

“There were chances right in front of the goals where we had shots blocked and then (Siriki) Dembele ran through at the start of the second half – I didn’t see Swansea having those chances.

“I was frustrated that we didn’t win the game, so it was very nice that Luke Williams (Swansea head coach) said we deserved something from it.

“Hopefully, somewhere down the line those chances will go in and we will win 5-2.”

Mowbray admitted it is early days in his reign and accepts there is lots to do.

He added: “There’s a long way to go and it’s a gradual thing because I’ve had three and a half days on the training pitches.

“We have to play forward more – I don’t like teams that ‘horse-shoe’ it around the back and pass it back to the goalkeeper.

“But we kept going to the end and any team that can recover from going goals down is an important trait.

“The players have looked me in the eye and they have bought into what I’m trying to do.”

Swansea took a 36th-minute lead when unmarked defender Harry Darling powered home a bullet header from Josh Tymon’s corner.

That lead lasted just two minutes as Siriki Dembele equalised with a fine solo goal, sprinting away from his marker before curling a low right-footed shot into the far bottom corner of the net.

Darling’s looping header hit the bar before Jamal Lowe got ahead of Dion Sanderson to poke home Tymon’s cross in the 59th minute.

Birmingham looked beaten after tailing off in the last half hour, but James changed all that with a superb strike.

Despite the late setback, Swansea head coach Luke Williams believed the draw was a fair result.

“It was disappointing because there was such little time (after Birmingham’s late equaliser) but if you take the game overall, Birmingham deserved at least a point,” he said.

“We didn’t create enough clear-cut chances to have won – maybe three good chances – but you can’t win a game like that if the other team create three good chances.

“I think we expected a really energetic performance from Birmingham because Tony Mowbray will make sure that happens.

“But we caused ourselves problems because with a team really fired up to press you and be aggressive, we couldn’t afford to play sloppily, especially near your own goal.

“But I think we made the classic mistake of trying to defend the lead out (for the late equaliser).”