Steve Bruce states the first half of Blackpool’s 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City was his side’s lowest point from his time at Bloomfield Road so far.

The Seasiders head coach opted to make four substitutions at the break of the FA Cup tie against the Blues after being left disappointed by what was produced by his starting XI.

Following his appointment as Blackpool boss at the beginning of September, Bruce initially enjoyed a four-game winning run, but in more recent times things have proven to be much trickier on the Fylde Coast.

A number of injuries has limited the options of the 63-year-old, and is one of the mitigating factors behind an eight-match run without a victory in League One - which was ended by last Tuesday’s 2-0 win away to Bristol Rovers.

Following the defeat to Birmingham, Bruce admitted the opening 45 minutes was a low point for his team.

“It’s my responsibility to fix it,” he said.

“We could’ve changed seven or eight at half time. Why we are lacklustre in a big cup tie doesn’t sit well with me. I’ll do everything I can, those kinds of performances are none existent.

“We didn’t make it a cup tie until the 45th minute and that’s the disappointing thing for me because I’ve not seen that in us. We’ve been really aggressive in how we’ve gone about teams, but we showed far too much respect to Birmingham.

“We know they’re a good side with good players but we’ve got to be better than what we were in the first half.”

Blackpool return to league action on Wednesday night with a trip to the Croud Meadow to face Shrewsbury Town, before welcoming Rotherham United to Bloomfield Road next weekend.