Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett has suggested that his side were simply undone by a moment of magic as they lost 1-0 to bitter rivals Aston Villa in the third round of the League Cup this evening.
City had matched Villa for much of the encounter at Villa Park, but were eventually dumped out after Rudy Gestede stole in to steal progression for the hosts with an adroit header in the second half.
"You're playing against a huge side from the Premier League in a local derby, it's a very difficult game to play in," said Rowett, according to BBC Sport.
"The young lad Jack Grealish changed the game when he came on and we were undone by a moment of quality from Rudy Gestede. That is very difficult to defend against.
"I hope the fans will have seen something positive and will have seen us run Aston Villa very close. I think tactically we more than matched Villa tonight."
Birmingham return to Championship action at the weekend when they face Rotherham United at St Andrew's.
