Sam Allardyce believed his West Ham United side threw away two precious points in their Boxing Day encounter away at Birmingham City.

Having seen Carlton Cole fire in a fourth-minute opener, the Hammers manager then watched as the visitors created a succession of first-half chances only to spurn them all. That profligacy came back to haunt them in the second half when David Murphy was able to score from a poorly-defended corner and in the end, Birmingham will feel hard done-by that they did not scramble a late winner.

The 1-1 draw ensured Big Sam's team stayed in second spot, although they slip to three points behind leaders Southampton and are now level on points with third-placed Middlesbrough. Although he would not name names, the manager was especially dismayed with the way the Birmingham equaliser was defended in the 81st minute.

"It is a night of frustration for me because our performance in the first half should have had the game sewn up by half-time," said the manager. "We didn't do that and at some stage when you are playing away from home the opposition are going to put you under some pressure.

"We were coping with that and our man who should have dropped on the line from the corner decides not to do his job properly and the ball goes in. We end up in a one-one and hanging on towards the end rather than being comfortable in possession and seeing the game out. It was a great shame after all the great play and chances we produced."

It was all so different in the first 45 when Julien Faubert twice had good chances, while Freddie Piquionne was also denied a decent goalscoring opportunity. The terrific Cole felt he had added a second just before the interval when he twisted and shot for goal, only for Boaz Myhill to save superbly. In fairness, Robert Green then had to be alert on several occasions after the break.

For all of Green's brilliance, the manager felt he was let down by poor marking. It was something he vowed to put right on the practice pitches this week in the lead-up to Saturday's trip to Derby County.

"What counts in this game is what happens in both boxes and all we had to do was defend a corner properly and we didn't. They scored and technically we have allowed the opposition back in the game just by not having our man where he should have been because he went and forget. I don't accept that.

"They get told what their positions are and what they have to do. Lads are going to have to man up and stop doing these types of things. They are very costly in the end and today it cost us two points.

"Not just that but the other side of thing is creating chances and not taking them. If we had gone two-nil up they would have had the spirit knocked out of them and we would have been more likely to end up three-nil rather than 2-1 because they get more desperate and take more chances."

Of huge disappointment to the manager was the suspensions accrued by George McCartney, Kevin Nolan and Faubert for the Pride Park encounter this week after their fifth bookings of the campaign. Jack Collison will also be serving the last fixture of a three-game ban for that match.

"At the end of the day we get three booked who were on four bookings and they are all banned for Saturday at Derby so I feel like we have lost at the minute," added Big Sam.

The manager may have Abdoulaye Faye and Sam Baldock back for Derby, while Winston Reid and Matt Taylor are also thought to not be too far behind but, whoever plays, he knows that they will have to start producing victories again on a regular basis.

"I am happy overall but not the last four games. We have only taken four points which is a nonsense compared to what we have done and it tells you we have to go and win three or four on the trot now.

"We have got to put a run of wins together to get back in touch with Southampton and not let the gap get too big. Our gap to the chasing teams has been whittled down because of our poor results."

In fairness, he conceded that his team had done well given the circumstances around his selection options which meant Gary O'Neil was back on the bench after eight months out with an ankle injury. Dan Potts did well on only his second game, while James Tomkins and Papa Bouba Diop were heroic at times in blocking the Blues' charge.

"I have been pretty critical to a patched-up team which has been patched up for a long time now. We have got a 17-year-old at left-back away from home for the first time while George is playing centre-half.

"They did a good job overall but there is just the element of concentration at key times that makes us ruthless. That makes you win the game instead of drawing and we have lost that ability to do our job correctly. We have to put that right."