Coyle rates Birmingham defeat above United shock

Owen Coyle has hailed Burnley’s 2-1 win over Birmingham as a more important result than his side’s shock 1-0 defeat of Manchester United.

The Premier League newcomers made it four wins out of four at Turf Moor thanks to goals from Steven Fletcher and Andre Bikey, with Sebastian Larsson’s consolation effort for Birmingham coming right at the death.

Coyle said the encounter with Alex McLeish’s side was exactly the kind of match Burnley had to win if they are to preserve their hard-won top flight status.

“Birmingham are one of the teams who are going to be in our group,” Coyle said. “We are not getting carried away, we know exactly where we are and where we expect to be.

“That is why, for me, it was the biggest result of the season. If we can pick up points from the teams round about us that will serve us well for the duration.

“The result against United was fantastic but I really believed we had to answer up after a heavy defeat at Spurs last week. By retaining our 100 percent record at home, hopefully it sends out a message to people that Turf Moor is not an easy place to come.”

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish lambasted his players for giving up once they had fallen behind.

“It was a second half to forget after they scored,” the former Scotland boss complained. “Up to then I thought it was anyone’s game and the first goal was going to be important.

“We didn’t react to the goal, we lost the way we have reacted in previous games and that was disappointing. After that it was a poor performance.”

Lee Bowyer missed a great chance to put Blues ahead six minutes from the break when he failed to finish in front of an open net after Roger Johnson had dragged a shot across the goalmouth.

Fletcher made Birmingham pay for that miss just before the hour mark with a shot that on-loan goalkeeper Joe Hart should have saved.

Cameroon defender Bikey then added a second after playing a one-two with David Nugent and Larsson’s stoppage-time freekick came too late to offer any chance of a comeback.