Birmingham City had to rely on Luis Vazquez against Cardiff City due to an injury to August Priske

Chris Davies admits Birmingham City missed striker August Priske in their defeat to Cardiff – with deputy Luis Vazquez yet to start firing.

Blues slipped up in Wales and suffered their second defeat of the season courtesy of Yousef Salech’s first half strike.

The absence of Priske from the team sheet for only the second time this season – due to ‘a knock’ picked up against Queens Park Rangers last weekend according to Davies – was far from ideal.

“He gives us not only his size and presence but his quality and mobility,” said Davies. “He gives us a real focal point and he’s been a key player for us. It’s natural you’re going to miss key players.”

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Vazquez started in Priske’s place for only the second time this season and struggled to impose himself on a makeshift Cardiff back four.

The Bluebirds were without their four leading centre-backs after Krystian Bielik sustained an injury in the warm up. Left-back Joel Bagan filled in but Vazquez couldn't use his physical advantage.

Asked what Vazquez, a £3m summer signing from Anderlecht, needs to improve to make an impact Davies replied: “He’s got to keep learning and adapting to this Championship. What he has is real physicality. He’s a big, strong lad and he’s got to use that frame of his to hold the ball up and gain some territory for us. That’s going to be his No.1 strength.

“A bit like August had to do when he first came in. He took a few months to really get to grips with the Championship and the centre-backs you’re up against.

“It’s a process Luis is on at the moment and he has to keep learning.”

Davies had absolutely no complaints about the result. Cardiff had multiple chances to add to Salech’s goal before Blues’ substitutes threatened an equaliser late on.

“The best team won,” said Davies. “In any game if you’re second to the ball that much playing at that level it’s always going to be hard.

“We couldn’t get on top of them at any point until the last 15 minutes or so when we looked like we could nick something from the game.

“Every time we had possession of the ball there was a blue shirt on us and playing and beating that press was going to take a combination of quick decisive thinking or playing over to the frontline and using our physicality and speed in behind, but neither were allowing us too much progression up the pitch.

“Too much of it was around our half or the halfway line and we just couldn’t get near their box.

“Defensively, we were very disorganised for the first goal in terms of the position we end up in and how easy it came into the box and the goal. That’s unlike us because we’re usually quite solid in those moments.

“We looked disorganised there and gave ourselves a big job to recover from that in the second half. We couldn’t quite get going in the second half.”