Birmingham boss Alex McLeish feels Birmingham's Carling Cup final display contributed to their 3-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion. McLeish was unimpressed with his players after he was forced into a raft of changes because of injury.
Asked if that was the case, he told Sky Sports HD2: "I believe that entirely.
"(There were) a lot of changes made to the team, a lot of tiredness if I'm making excuses for my players.
"To lose five or six (players), enforced, was a big hurdle. But I thought some of our play was second rate. I would have liked to see better performances."
McLeish feels poor defending after the break allowed the Baggies to play out their commanding win.
"(It was) schoolboy defending in the second half," he said. "The goals were lamentable.
"I'm angry with the defending but there were a lot of changes. It really disrupted us."
He added: "We were devoid of inspiration in the forward areas. We huffed and puffed without creating too much up there.
"We had a few close things in the first half but nothing to write home about."
McLeish believes the absence of Nikola Zigic, who scored in Sunday's final, was felt by his side.
"I couldn't even put Nikola Zigic on," he said. "He's got a groin problem and the doctors said it would be a massive risk."
