Birmingham City manager Chris Hughton has said that the club should do a lot better in the second leg if they are to make it into the final of the play-offs.

Birmingham City lost the first leg of the play-off semi-final against Blackpool 1-0.

They will be having the second leg at home, which will be a massive advantage according to manager Chris Hughton. It has been a tough year for Birmingham City, but they have managed to qualify for the play-offs position. It will be a massive achievement for Chris Hughton is he was to get his financially threatened the club to the Premier league.

However, they now face an uphill task in order to set up a final date against West Ham, who look now the favourites to beat Cardiff City in the other semi-final. Hughton said after the match that the club was extremely disappointed with the result, but he expected a big improvement in the second leg at St Andrews. Hughton said that one of the reasons Blackpool were able to get the advantage in the first leg was the failure of his players to use the ball well. This is the first defeat Birmingham City have suffered since March 20.

“We didn’t use the ball well enough… we’ll certainly have to improve, but we’re still right in it. We always knew it was going to be a difficult game. Blackpool get a lot of possession in the middle of the park and all you can do is try and restrict them to minimal chances, which we did. But we didn’t use the ball well enough in our general play, or working on the counter,” Hughton said after the match. The second leg encounter between the two clubs will be at the St Andrews on May 10.