Interim Birmingham boss Gary Rowett rued a missed opportunity to move out the Championship relegation zone after the Blues were beaten 1-0 at home by Cardiff.
Rowett’s side would have moved out the bottom three with a point but Josh Bowler’s 65th-minute goal earned Cardiff victory at St Andrew’s.
The result leaves Blues 23rd in the table with just four games of the season remaining.
“When you have an opportunity, you have to do everything you can to take that opportunity and we just didn’t do that,” Rowett said.
“We petered out with a little bit of a whimper and it’s incredibly frustrating and frustrating for the fans who came out in good numbers.
“I thought we started OK and I thought we had some good control and I felt we got into some good areas without finding the quality to open them up.
“We’ve given goals away far too easily, we’ve conceded soft goals, tonight we had a chance to react to their goal and we didn’t react.
“We lacked character in that second half and how the game ended.
“We know we’ve got another tough game on Saturday and we need to show a little bit more urgency, fight and character.”
Cardiff, who remain in 11th position, lost midfielder Aaron Ramsey to injury.
The Wales midfielder started his first match for the Bluebirds since September but was substituted at half-time because of a hamstring problem.
Manager Erol Bulut said: “He had an injury with the hamstring so we hope it is not something big and we will see after a scan.”
Bulut was happy with his team’s display against a difficult opponent.
“It was a good game from our side, of course it was not an easy game because Birmingham are fighting for points,” Bulut said.
“It was a strong game from us against the ball and we could have made one or two more goals if we would have finalised our passes or the last shot but in general, I am satisfied with the performance of the team.
“We now have four more games and I hope it can be the same like today.”
Bulut believes it has been a satisfying season for the Bluebirds, but inconsistencies have been their downfall.
“You see where Cardiff City was last season and where they are now and how we have progressed, I am satisfied with the season and the performance of many players, but it could be better,” Bulut said.
“We have not had the consistency and so maybe we could be closer to the play-offs.”
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Barcelona 4-2 Valencia: Lewandowski hat-trick leads Barca to 4-2 win over 10-man Valencia
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick to help his side fight back to claim a hard-fought 4-2 win over Valencia, who were leading 2-1 when they were reduced to 10 men just before the break.
Fermin Lopez's header from a Raphinha cross put Barca in front after 22 minutes, but Valencia's Hugo Duro struck in the 27th and Pepelu scored from the spot after a foul by Ronald Araujo 11 minutes later to give the visitors the lead.
But after Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili saw red for a handball outside the box before the break, Xavi's side dominated and Lewandowski scored with two headers from corners in the 49th and 82nd minutes before getting his treble with a free-kick in added time.
The win postponed Real Madrid's almost inevitable LaLiga title celebrations for a couple of weeks as Carlo Ancelotti's side sit atop the standings on 84 points.
Barcelona moved back to second in LaLiga on Monday with 73 points as they leapfrogged surprise package Girona, who are third with 71. Those two teams will meet in a Catalonia derby on Saturday.
Data debrief
Barcelona conceded two goals in the first half of a home game for the second time this season, after also doing so against Girona in LaLiga in December 2023.
However, Lewandowski's goals have been invaluable to La Blaugrana this season as he's earned 17 points with his 16 goals in the league.
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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