'We've been short' - Steve Bruce offer honest verdict on Blackpool's defeat Birmingham City

Ethan Laird gave the League One Champions the lead in the final minutes of the first half, after finding himself unmarked at the back post to head home a corner.

After the break, Alfie May doubled the Blues lead, as the Seasiders endured an evening where they were firmly second-best.

“You could see why they’ve won the league by 20-odd points, there was a gulf,” Bruce said after the game.

“I have to say in the first half, we didn’t make it very difficult for them, and in the second half we made a mistake, but we were better.

“Overall there was a gulf. Congratulations to Birmingham, they are a really an excellent football team. They are a very good team, and we found it difficult.

“You can be without the ball and make it more difficult than what we did. I don’t think we had enough intensity to get amongst them and disrupt them. We were beaten by the better team.

“We know they average 700 passes, so they’ll have the ball, and you accept them.

“They showed an intensity when they didn’t have it, they got after us quickly, and we were beaten by a far better team.

“In the last month, when we’ve given ourselves an opportunity, certainly when Wrexham came to town, we’ve been short and we’ve seen why these two teams have gone up.

“We understand wen we see Birmingham play the way they have tonight that they’ve got a huge budget, but they’ve spent it well. They’re well coached and well drilled, and by far the best team in the league.”

At the break, Bruce opted to change the formation - switching to a wing-back system.

“We just thought we could go and be a little bit more aggressive against them,” he explained.

“It allowed us to put three up top and put a little bit of pressure on their three. We tried to match them up a little bit and see what we could do.

“We were better, but not good enough on the night.

“My disappointment over the last month in particular is we’ve given ourselves a chance, but when it’s come down to the nitty gritty we’ve not really been there, and that’s been slightly disappointing.”