Chris Davies says Birmingham ‘love playing at home’ after win over Watford

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Chris Davies says Birmingham ‘love playing at home’ after win over Watford

Birmingham boss Chris Davies said his side “love playing at home” after they earned a fourth straight victory at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park with a 2-1 win over Watford.

Paik Seung-ho dispossessed Hector Kyprianou before firing past Nathan Baxter for the first and Birmingham had breathing space on the stroke of half-time courtesy of Demarai Gray’s high quality finish into the top right corner.

Watford were looking to continue their recent five-game unbeaten run and Othmane Maamma’s strike halved the deficit, which made for a nervous home crowd but the hosts hung on to move within a point of the Championship play-offs.

Davies was pleased for his side but is keeping his feet firmly on the ground despite the Blues’ recent good form.

He said: “Excellent win. I was aware going into the game the level of opposition we were playing today. Their goal can happen but I’m happy with our reaction.

“That’s our fourth in a row now and 14 goals in those games. It’s not normal because it’s such a tight league.

“The good thing is we love playing at home, you see some teams that struggle in front of their own fans. There is a connection between the fans and the team, players love playing here.

“Just because we’ve done well it doesn’t mean we will continue to. I say to the players ‘you have to prove it all again’, it definitely bodes well for our season.

“I tell the players to never get too fixated on the league because you can be up and down. If you worry about that you’ll get lost.”

Davies hailed Paik after he scored his fourth goal of the campaign which put Blues in front.

He added: “All the coaches will say to me he’s such a good finisher. It was a really good goal.

“They were up against two good midfielders today, it was a good battle and I would say we got the better of them.

“To go up and win the ball is one thing, but Paik is two-footed, technical, quick, strong, strong mentality. He’s an exceptional player for us.”

Watford boss Javi Gracia blamed mistakes for his side’s first defeat in six and admitted they were not able to take their chances.

Gracia said: “We didn’t take the chances we had and they did two great goals. When you dominate you have to score goals and take the chances you have, we didn’t do it and tried to the end.

“In terms of chances and possession it was an equal game but we are paying for our mistakes because two goals came from mistakes. It’s something we have to improve.

“We have a good squad and players. We are going to insist in our work and try to do better next time. I trust my players, I know they have a good attitude and something we have to manage better.”

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