'Sour grapes' - Birmingham City supporters hit back at Nathan Jonas as Chris Davies point made

Nathan Jones was left frustrated after Charlton Athletic's 1-0 loss at Birmingham City in League One

Birmingham City moves nine points clear at the top of the League One table with a 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic.

Jay Stansfield's 23rd-minute strike stretched their lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe and the Blues have a game in hand. The forward’s strike was his 16th league goal of the season.

The goal came after Ethan Laird flicked on a goal-kick from Ryan Allsop and Stansfield took it past Conor Coventry on the halfway line before lashing it into the roof of the net from the edge of the box.

Speaking after the game, Charlton boss Nathan Jones said: "They've spent more than anyone, they've got a huge budget in terms of that so they should be. They're well coached.

"We went after them and it took an error, otherwise there's nothing in the game. At the end we were pushing. There was just a little bit of naivety at the end because we kept giving free-kicks away and they saw the game out.

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"I'm really proud of the club. The fans were absolutely outstanding and out-sang theirs. They had 20-odd thousand fans here but our fans out-sang them and that showed where we were in the second half, that they weren't dominant in any way.

"Everything they did, they went long. They showed us massive respect. I just wanted us to get a little bit more pressure and be more aggressive and I didn't think we were.

“It took an error for them to win the game otherwise there was nothing in it. They showed levels of something-housery to see the game out which all good sides need to do as well – they went down holding their heads, they stayed down and saw the game out. Credit to them, they saw the game out. The fine margin today was an error.

“We had to clear it and we probably could have done better. He’s a £20m player and he’s smashed it in – if it had been anyone else on the pitch it might not have happened." And below is a look how Birmingham Live readers reacted to the win and the comments made by Jones.

StAndrews68 commented: "Sour grapes thinks having a big budget wins things, look at Man Utd, Spurs, Arsenal etc. It's the coaching and how you spend it. We have one expensive, but inexperienced player, two relatively expensive and the rest are loans, and cheap bargain basement players in football."

Phil6480 added: "It’s okay to say that but explain it. And explain the unacceptable decisions of the ref and linesmen in your favour. One shot at goal one corner and your fans thought they had won the league Sour grapes Jonesy."

Millman1969 agreed, saying: "Sounds like sour grapes to me Mr Jones."

Demo said: "I recall that when Jones was manager at Southampton for a few months, he was always moaning after losses and very full of himself."

Elizrich34 believes: "It sounds like a case of sour grapes to me. I can't believe he thought Charlton fans out sang ours and to call Stansfield's sublime goal just an error on his team is an insult to a great goal."

Tcblues thinks: "Charlton did nothing first half and we had enough chances to have gone 2 up by half time. Second half Charlton brought on all their tallest players and turned into Rotherham and played hoof ball. Their keeper clearly handled it outside the box and that linesman was awful."

WoodyUK asks: "How many more managers are going to comment on the Budget Blues have and spent? You can have £Zillions, but if you don't spend it correctly, no matter how much you have, you can waste loads of investment.

"Why doesn't Jones admit Blues spent well with the budget they had, brought in experience for L1 & yes, a lot was spent on Stansfield. How many other clubs in L1 wouldn't have spent or would liked the opportunity to spend Budget Blues had, no difference to Relegated Premier League Team having Parachute Payments when they go down to Championship."

What are your thoughts on Nathan Jones' comments? Let us know in the comments below or HERE.