Birmingham City assistant manager Kevin Summerfield is hopeful that his side can bounce back from their disappointing 2-0 defeat against Cardiff City yesterday.

The Blues struggled to get going in South Wales, being restricted to just one shot on goal all afternoon as they made it three league games without a win.

With a two-week international break now upon us, and Birmingham safe from the threat of relegation, Summerfield insists that the latest setback has "come at not a bad time" for the club.

"We have got eight games left, we're not considered safe so we have still got to roll our sleeves up and put decent performances in like we have done over the last two or three months," he is quoted as saying by the Birmingham Mail.

"It has come at not a bad time for us. It will probably be a bit of a kick up the backside for the players. They have got to roll their sleeves up and perform in the next games because it will have an influence on what we do next season, how we want to play the game and what players we want.

"I am not happy with the team's performance, it was not up to the standards we have set ourselves over the last two or three months. I think we made that plain to the players afterwards. We usually play with a lot of discipline, in terms of positional play but it wasn't right today."

Birmingham, who are now 15th in the Championship table, return to action with a home match against strugglers Rotherham United on Good Friday.