Birmingham City

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies spoke to BBC WM following their 3-1 home defeat by Middlesbrough.

"Very disappointing. We haven't had many nights like this at home since I've been here," he said.

"It was a good start, we really got after them, we were on the front foot, exactly the type of start we wanted to make and then a goal out of nothing really. It's a really soft goal from our point of view.

"It rocked us a little bit and then the second goal was really poor, some wrong decisions, we end up in a ridiculous situation where it's bouncing around our box and they score.

"It gave us a lot to do against a good team and from that point, I wasn't happy with how we responded. We played back too much, we stopped running forward.

"Second half, we came out with more impetus, more forward runs, got ourselves into a great position with a good goal but the third goal was a killer. Once that went in, it was very difficult to get something.

"So yes, a tough one."

Image source, Coventry City FC

You might not hear the old terrace refrain of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' as often as you used to, but it still has a better ring than 'the shirt's not fit for you to wear'.

Championship leaders Coventry City launched a new collection on Friday, proudly taking inspiration from a kit widely dubbed the 'Worst of All Time'.

A take on the club's infamous brown change strip worn away from Highfield Road from 1978 to 1981, the modern reinvention features what the club calls "a deeper chocolate plum colour with sky blue elements".

Many would suggest it sounds tastier than it looks.

But it's got us thinking... what are actually the worst EFL kits of all time? Let us know which of your club's shirts is hiding in the back of the wardrobe, or even if they were too ugly for you to even part money for them.

We'll collate a list of the biggest eyesores and will give you the chance to vote on the ghastliest of all next week.

Click here to let us know your suggestion, and you can even attach a picture if you really want to convey the horror.

Birmingham saw their eight-game unbeaten league run come to an end at Millwall on Wednesday to leave them five points short of the play-off places before the weekend games.

Blues have still only tasted defeat at St Andrew's once so far this season but only Coventry City (29) have taken more points on the road than second-placed Middlesbrough's 28 in the Championship.

• Birmingham City have lost 11 of their past 15 league games against Middlesbrough (W3 D1), losing each of the last six since a 2-0 win in October 2021.

• Middlesbrough have won their past four away league games against Birmingham, only having longer runs against Rotherham (six between 1956-1962) and Liverpool (five between 1957 and 1960).

• No Championship side has lost fewer home league games than Birmingham this season (one). Their 3-2 loss to Hull in October is their only defeat in their past 41 league games at St Andrew's (W29 D11).

• Middlesbrough have won five of their past eight away league games (L3), as many as they had in their previous 20 (D5 L10).

• Morgan Whittaker has been involved in more away goals than any other Middlesbrough player in the Championship this season (eight – four goals, four assists).

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies said his team failed to compete with Millwall in their 3-0 defeat at The Den.

Davies told BBC Radio WM: "I said to the players that we have to hold our hands up and say we didn't deserve anything from that match. We were well below the competitiveness required when you come to a place like this, firstly to keep clean sheets and then to have a go yourself in the game.

"This is a timely reminder of how challenging this league is, and what you have to do in every single game, and we weren't good enough.

"Their tails were up but it wasn't [a case of] carving us open, a lot of it was setpieces. The first [goal] was off a long throw was a great finish to be fair, an outstanding moment of quality.

"The second was a shot off a post and a rebound. These are really sloppy mistakes from our point of view and the third was a wide free kick, so it wasn't a game where we were having massive problems generally, but when it comes to the basics, the bouncing balls and ugly side to the game, we were short and it cost us."

Image source, Opta

Millwall will seek to return to winning ways as they welcome play-off chasing Birmingham on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

After taking 10 points from their previous four games, Alex Neil's side went down 3-1 at home to Portsmouth on Saturday, their first defeat in six at The Den, and lie third, six points behind second-placed Middlesbrough.

Blues are seven points back in seventh, two points behind Wrexham in the final play-off spot, after making it eight Championship games unbeaten, taking 18 points from that run, with a 2-1 win at Norwich on Saturday.

• Millwall have won three of their past four home league games against Birmingham (L1), as many as in their previous 11 against them (D4 L4).

• Following their 4-0 win in the reverse fixture, Birmingham are looking to complete the league double over Millwall for the first time since 2013/14.

• Millwall have won just four of their past 17 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D4 L9).

• Birmingham have won just one of their past five midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) league games (D2 L2), having won 10 of the 12 prior (D1 L1).

• Birmingham's Jay Stansfield has been involved in three goals in his three league games against Millwall (2 goals, 1 assist), though all of these have come in home games.

Image source, PA Media

Birmingham boss Chris Davies claims the Blues' hard-fought 2-1 win at Norwich is one of their "biggest of the season".

The Blues played brilliantly to lead 2-0 through Carlos Vicente and Marvin Ducksch before they had to withstand a second-half fightback to record their first win at Carrow Road since 2002.

Birmingham have climbed to seventh in the Championship, just two points outside the play-offs, and Davies told BBC Radio WM: "You could say that's one of our biggest wins of the season.

"It feels big and I've just been told it's 2002 since the Blues last won here, which is incredible.

"I'm very pleased for the supporters that have travelled here and taken that home with them. I said to the players, it's game by game, step by step, but that feels like a big step today.

"Norwich are in great form, they're at home, their tails are up. I thought in the first half we were exceptional. We could have been, and should have been, out of sight because of the way we played.

"In the second half, we had to weather a bit of a storm and show the other side of football, the grit, the determination to keep the ball out of the net and we did that as well."

Norwich City are currently top of the Championship's form guide with 15 points from their past six games, level with Middlesbrough but having scored more and conceded fewer goals.

The Canaries have moved seven points clear of the relegation zone under head coach Philippe Clement, who has won 11 of his 19 games since being appointed in November.

Birmingham City will arrive in Norfolk two points short of the top six and with only one defeat from their past 10 outings.

• Norwich have lost their past two league games against Birmingham, which is more defeats than they suffered in their previous 19 games against the Blues in league competition (W12 D6).

• Birmingham won 4-1 against Norwich earlier this season (November 2025) and could do the league double over the Canaries for the first time since 2001-02.

• Norwich City have won six of their past eight league games (L2), with no Championship side winning more points than the Canaries since the turn of the year (18, level with Middlesbrough).

• Birmingham have won their past two away league games (2-0 vs both Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United), as many wins as they recorded across their first 14 games on the road this season. They are looking to win three successive away league matches without conceding for the first time since October 2015.

• Norwich City have won their past two league games, keeping a clean sheet in both (2-0 vs Blackburn Rovers and 3-0 vs Oxford United); they last went on a longer league run without conceding in March 2021 (3 games).

Image source, EFL

Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies believes his side deserved to beat Premier League side Leeds United after their penalty shootout defeat in the FA Cup fourth round.

Patrick Roberts brought Blues level at 1-1 late on before Ibrahim Osman hit the post in stoppage-time.

It was the second time the hosts had struck the woodwork after Jay Stansfield's early drive was also tipped on to a post.

"I said to the players that I'm proud of them," Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"It's not a term I use a lot, but I think it's something I do feel because I think we've been the better team.

"If you think of the Newcastle game last year we had a go but we died out towards the end and they blew us away a little bit, but this was completely different.

"Over the course of the game we should have won that match. We had all the big chances and unfortunately we just couldn't get the goals, but we fought to the very end and that's what pleases me most."

Davies hopes the performance will provide the platform for a Championship play-off push, with 11th-placed Birmingham just two points outside of the top six.

"We've given ourselves an example of what we're capable of today, although we didn't get the win we've definitely shown some good qualities and we have 14 league games left now," he added.

"It's all to play for still, but what I like is we've been there, we look like a team that's ready to fight and we've got quality, so we just have to keep believing and keep pushing."

Jason Mohammed is joined by Paul Robinson and Leon Osman to bring all you the action and talking points from Sunday's FA Cup ties.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Grimsby Town 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Birmingham City 1-1 Leeds United

• Oxford United 0-1 Sunderland