Story byBBCSat, January 24, 2026 at 5:49 PM UTC·1 min readStoke City manager Mark Robins praised his players for battling back from a goal down at Birmingham despite having 11 players injured and defender Bosun Lawal suspended. He told BBC Radio Stoke: "It was an important performance because we are [down to the] bare bones and everyone knows it and sees it, but the packed-out away end was phenomenal and backed us all the way. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"The players really appreciate that. I thought we were the better team in the first half and created some decent openings that we usually don't take anyway."We've got 12 players out and the majority of those are first-team starters, or have been, so to put in a performance like that was really pleasing."[Birmingham] have been good at home this year and we gave as good as we got, could have taken some chances, and had chances to create shooting opportunities which we turned down - that's the only criticism, I want them to shoot, have a go."We conceded a really poor goal, but the response was emphatic, a brilliant delivery from Cressy."Latest Stoke City news, analysis and fan viewsListen to Stoke City content on BBC Sounds.