“And then we didn’t judge the ball quickly enough on the next two goals – and if you give Birmingham’s quality players time, they will deliver quality.”

“But it’s a good learning curve for us as a group. We’ve hardly conceded a goal this season, we’ve never been behind in a game, but in recent years we’ve been behind in crucial games and we’ve reacted better than we did here.”

Marriott’s fourth goal of the season less than three minutes into the highly anticipated match suggested Wrexham had unsettled Birmingham, with Parkinson saying the hosts had appeared “nervous” in the early stages given the spotlight created by the presence of their minority owner Tom Brady.

He added: “The way we played made us look like a team that played with security and confidence – and that’s the case because we came here first.”

“But the goal changed the mood in the stadium. They were very good after that, but we could have done better. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, but we have to learn from it and take the lessons with us into the next games.

“Any defeat is difficult to take but we have to be realistic when we look at where we have come from. At the start of the season after six games – and the first three away games at Bolton, Peterborough and Birmingham – and having only lost once, we would have accepted it.

“They have spent more money than any other team outside the Premier League and have good players but there are areas that need improvement. It’s about reacting and if we get into a situation like that again, if we are under pressure, can we do better?”

Parkinson says he remains excited about his team’s upcoming matches, but admits Birmingham’s spending power has put the club in an enviable position.

He added: “Every player we wanted, they outbid us or offered us more salary. It was almost a case of ‘let them sign whoever they want and everyone else will look around and see what else is there.’

“Nobody in this league can compete in terms of spending and for us it would have been insane. If I were them, I would get the best players possible and that’s what they did.

“But just as we didn’t get carried away with our start, we can’t get carried away with Birmingham either. With the opportunities they have, they will be difficult to beat.

“It was a good performance from them, but there is still a lot of football to be played.”