By Gareth James
Phil Parkinson has warned Birmingham City there is a long way to go after the Tom Brady-backed club won the battle of the League One headline-grabbers against Wrexham.
Parkinson’s Dragons remain top of the table, but suffered their first defeat of the season at St. Andrew’s as they went down, 3-1 in the match billed as the “Hollywood derby.”
Brady is a minority shareholder in promotion-chasing Birmingham, while Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have felt the force of Blues’ flexing their financial muscle, according to manager Parkinson.
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Jack Marriott gave Wrexham an early lead but £10 million signing Jay Stansfield went some way to repaying an expensive transfer fee by equalising for Birmingham and later heading the hosts in front in the 52nd minute.
Seven minutes later, Japan midfielder Tomoki Iwata’s superb strike made it 3-1.
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But, as with all the best Hollywood thrillers, there was a late twist, with Birmingham reduced to 10 men when Krystian Bielik was sent off for a second yellow card after a reckless challenge on Andy Cannon.
“Any defeat is tough to take, but we have to be realistic in terms of where we’ve come from,” said Parkinson.
“At the start of the season after six games – and the first three away games at Bolton, Peterborough and Birmingham – and to have only been beaten once, we would have taken it.
“They have spent more money than any team outside of the Premier League, and have good quality players, but there are areas to improve. It’s about responding and if we come up against that situation again, when we’re under pressure, can we do better?
“Every player we were going for, they were outbidding us or offering more wages; it was almost ‘let them sign who they want and everyone else will look for what else is out there’.
“No-one can compete in this division in terms of their spending and it would have been madness for us. If I was in their position, you’d get the best possible players you can and that’s what they’ve done.
“But as much as we haven’t got carried away with our start, you can’t get too carried away with Birmingham. With the options they’ve got, they will take some beating.
“It was a good performance by them, but there is a lot of football to be played.”
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Both teams were unbeaten coming into the fixture and that quality was on show from the off as Jack Marriott fired Wrexham in front with just three minutes on the clock.
Stansfield signed for Birmingham on a permanent basis in a big-money move over the summer but was clearly unaffected by his price tag as he scored in either half to give City the lead before Tomoki Iwata’s stunner sealed the points.
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Birmingham manager Chris Davies said: “All the stuff around the game is good profile for the club and good for other people but, for me, this was no different to Rotherham away at the weekend.
“It was a very difficult start for us conceding so early, but full credit to the players for showing the character they did and behaving like it hadn’t even happened.
“We played some really good stuff and got into some good areas and Jay Stansfield got two poachers’ goals. The first was pure instinct following a rebound – but that’s what all the best finishers do and and full credit to Alex Cochrane for setting up his second.
“That third goal was so important, giving us that two-goal cushion. But Krystian will be annoyed with himself for getting sent off.
“We’ve got a good squad for a reason though – and it’s a chance for someone else to step into his place.”
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