Derby County 1, Birmingham City 2: Colin Tattum's pre season match report

Aug 2 2010 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

ALEX McLeish may have stressed the need for ‘‘enhancement not replacement’’ when it comes to his squad.

But Blues aren’t doing too badly at all so far in pre-season.

They made it four wins out of four, chalking up a satisfactory victory in what could easily have been a problematic friendly at Pride Park.

Returning after a two-week trip to the Far East, usually the immediate after effects are sluggishness.

But Blues, after an admittedly slow start, performed with drive and were crisp enough against a Rams side who also went into the game unbeaten in their warm-ups.

Blues’ squad were boosted by the return of James McFadden, who missed Hong Kong and China due to his wife giving birth to a son. He got the last 22 minutes as a substitute.

And in David Murphy’s case – he opened the scoring in the 31st minute with a glancing header from Sebastian Larsson’s corner – it is like having another signing now his injury nightmare has ended. Same too with Garry O’Connor.

But McLeish’s reasoned argument is that Blues cannot now just stop and be content with what’s available.