Birmingham City boss McLeish: Traore benefitted from Preston game

Apr 30 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

DJIMI Traore will have benefited from his appearance against Preston North End, Alex McLeish believes.

It was the Portsmouth loanee’s first 90 minutes of the 2008-09 season.

In the side because of injuries, Traore’s was a real mixed bag of a performance at left-back.

McLeish said: “It was a tough game for him because of the expectation levels and the fact that he has not played for a long, long time. Hopefully it will have done him the world of good for this next one.”

“After Preston equalised, Djimi was instrumental with a couple of great balls he put in the box.

“But it wasn’t easy for him, and he will have benefitted from the game.

“He’s got a presence and plenty of experience.

‘‘But you could see that he hadn’t played competitively for a wee while.”