Birmingham City: Experience counts for Alex McLeish
Read Colin Tattum and Andy Walker on our live blog from the game
Alex McLeish last night hailed his experienced Birmingham City side after witnessing one of his old guard power home the late winner that sunk Bristol City.
Franck Queudrue’s emphatic 87th-minute header sealed a 1-0 victory at St Andrew’s and for the hosts it was thoroughly deserved and desperately needed.
McLeish had fielded a vastly-experienced team that included seven players aged at least 30 or over. The result came after a high-energy performance and means Birmingham leapfrog Reading into the Championship’s automatic promotion places.
A relieved McLeish praised how his seasoned side overcame a pressurised night following results that went in favour of their promotion favourites on Tuesday night.
“It was a very experienced side that was out tonight and I wanted to try to make that count and they did that,” the Birmingham manager said. “Of course it (the experience) can be a factor and I like to think that it will be a factor because we were under a wee bit of pressure after the results on Tuesday night and you wonder how players will react to that and they showed great character. They responded to those results. We would like to have taken care of other opportunities we’ve had in the past but we’ve let them slip by but we are still very much in the hunt.”
