Curtis Davies was convinced his tackle on Mikael Forssell was legitimate and should not have resulted in a penalty.

The young centre half was in imperious form alongside Steve Watson but blotted his copybook with a rash challenge on Forssell, which resulted in the Finland international gleefully scoring from 12 yards.

Davies was visibly furious after Phil Dowd pointed to the penalty spot but managed to compose himself for the remaining 40 minutes of action and repel Birmingham's advances.

In Dowd's defence, it looked the correct decision, as Davies reacted to what he perceived to be a foul from Forssell with a full-blooded challenge.

Nevertheless, Albion's brightest prospect was unrepentant afterwards in his analysis of the decision.

"I wasn't happy with the penalty decision. I thought I had got clipped so I was rushing back and as the ball bounced I tried to get round it and I got it with my right foot and he (Fors-sell) has landed on the floor. But that has gone now and we did well to get back into the game but I felt we could have won it.

"I have seen the angle that the referee saw it from and it was a hard decision to make. But I felt it was harsh.

"I didn't want to hear what the ref had to say, as I was disappointed. The decision wound me up to do even better. I was up for it even more"

Davies was gushing in his praise of team-mate Nathan Ellington after he ended a goal drought stretching back to November.

The pair have struck up a good friendship both on and off the pitch and while Davies has received the plaudits, Ellington has come in for criticism because of his goal return.

Davies has offered solutions to Ellington's lack of confidence and admits that his own brand of cajoling has been well received by the striker.

"I have had chats with Nathan, as a mate and as a team-mate and I can be harsh with him and tell him where he is going wrong and what he is doing right.

He accepts my criticism more than he will accept someone else's because he knows I am doing it for his benefit," reasoned Davies.

"I am buzzing for him as he is my best mate at the club and hopefully he will kick on from that goal.

"He has been trying hard in training and getting back to basics. Now he has got the chance and scored a goal and nearly got a second - it bobbled up I have been told.

"He looks dangerous again, which is good news for us. He has been doing it in training and I have told him that if he does the basic thing in games and gets his shots off he will get a goal."

The testing nature of Albion's fixture list is well documented yet Davies was his usual ebullient self when questioned over their approach to the task in hand.

"We can take confidence from the way we played. We didn't win but we created the chances."