John Eustace conceded Blackburn Rovers must be far better with the ball after losing 1-0 to Birmingham City in his first match as head coach.

Andre Dozzell's goal 13 minutes from time gave Tony Mowbray's side a deserved, albeit slender, victory at St Andrew's. Rovers spent large portions of the game without the ball and created very little.

Whilst they were more organised defensively, Birmingham still created a number of presentable chances but were wasteful in front of goal. At the other end, Rovers fashioned nothing of note until Semir Telalovic's late header with the last kick of the match.

Eustace agreed that Rovers didn't show enough quality in possession and that will be an area they must improve on moving forward.

READ MORE: Rovers player ratings as McFadzean impresses but attack struggle

"We are disappointed to lose the game, I thought the lads battled well coming to a difficult place," Eustace said.

"We had a couple of half-chances, we have to be a lot better with the ball. The performance was disappointing with the ball. From a defensive point of view, I thought we made the game scrappy and frustrated Birmingham to long shots.

"When we win the ball back in those good areas, we have to be better with our final pass or shot. Maybe an extra couple of passes to really cut through them.

"Lots to work on. We had a limited number of chances, we didn't show enough quality with that final ball.

"We didn't always make the right decisions, whether that be taking too long or playing it too early, we didn't get that final pass in.

"We got into some good areas but the final ball let us down. I am learning with the group, I had an hour with them yesterday.

"We have been on a bad run away from home, conceding a lot of goals. It's important we start being competitive and hard to play against which I felt we were at times.

"There is lots to improve on but it's a good group to work with."

After spending just an hour on the training pitch with his new team, it is impossible to make sweeping assumptions or draw conclusions after one match.

Eustace himself admitted he is still learning about the group and whilst there was a lack of quality at St Andrew's, he is encouraged by the attitude and application of the players.

"We lost a couple of duels in the midfield early on and then some good blocks in the box," he said.

"It then fell to Dozzell and he put it in. It was disappointing but there are things to work with.

"The attitude has been fantastic, we showed two sides to the game on Saturday and defended well in that second half. They put their bodies on the line and they were competitive.

"At times today, we did that. It's about learning with the group, a young group. They are gutted in there, they're showing the right attitude and they know they can be better."