Birmingham City manager Chris Hughton has explained why he opted for a different formation at Crystal Palace.

Hughton deployed a 4-5-1 in Blues' defeat at Selhurst Park.

Marlon King was supported by widemen Nathan Redmond and Chris Burke and although Blues bossed the opening half, Palace eventually began to exert themselves and cause trouble for the visitors, primarily at set-pieces.

In essence, Hughton was hoping a new look would herald an upturn in fortune on the road, taking into account Palace's strength at home too.

Palace have only conceded six league goals on their patch - a tally second only to the miserly four Blues have allowed at St Andrew's.

"Of course what you're always after is improvement and we're also on the back of four away games on the spin in a short period of time and sometimes you are looking for a bit of a different formula to change things, away from home," said Hughton.

"We were conscious that we were coming to a team, a place, where it's difficult to get a result. So you are looking perhaps to change things.

"I thought for large periods of the game it worked. I felt it was a game we weren't going to lose.