Birmingham City were beaten 1-0 at home to Plymouth Argyle as they bowed out of the FA Cup, leaving Lee Bowyer reeling at his squad. 

The defeat left Bowyer reiterating the need to add to his squad this January in the transfer window after a lacklustre display at home to Plymouth.

They were beaten in extra time as Ryan Law smashed home with his left foot but it was a game the visitors could have won by more.

Blues have so far added Teden Mengi and Taylor Richards in the first week of the window, but Bowyer acknowledged that the performance against Argyle shows he needs more options.

He told The Birmingham Mail: “We have got five games in 15-16 days, if we don’t bring in bodies to help, guess what, you are going to get more and more injuries – then we will be in trouble. We have to take one at a time but we need players in.

“My players tried, effort-wise I can’t fault them but they go through and it’s disappointing because the side we put out was strong enough to win the game.

“But we definitely need to freshen things up in this window, we are lacking quality it’s plain to see. You see their players bring much more quality than what we brought. That’s something that needs addressing.”

On the balance of the game, Bowyer admitted that it wasn't good to see his side fail to register a single shot on target against League One opposition, as he added: “It’s very bad, I thought the first half and second half we got into to some good areas, we just turned down crosses, we didn’t ask enough questions of them.

“I think they deserved to win, they asked more questions than what we did, they seemed like they had more quality in the final third than what we did."
Birmingham are currently 18th in the Championship table, eight points clear of the relegation zone. The Blues return to league action on Saturday, when they travel to Deepdale to face Preston North End.
The Verdict
Lee Bowyer is right to criticise his side after the defeat but it also shows the lack of quality in the squad.
Blues have struggled all season to finish chances with the likes of Jutkiewicz, Hogan and Deeney all struggling to score regularly.
In addition to that, they've been unfortunate with injuries and loan players being recalled which shows the job at hand for Bowyer and how big the task is for him over the next few months.
Adding to the squad in the January window therefore seems essential, if they are to avoid a nervous and challenging second half to the season.