Keith Fahey is relishing his new role in the Birmingham City team

Aug 11 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

And his opening goal in the promotion decider at Reading, followed by a lovely weighted through ball for Kevin Phillips to guide in the winner, was testament alone to that assessment.

Now Fahey has designs on making his mark in the Premier League after ill-fated spells at Arsenal and Villa when a homesick youngster.

He has been living the dream, but he’s not star struck: “You have to take everything in your stride, all that’s been going on.

“It has been rapid [his rise from League of Ireland to Premier League] but it’s something I’ve worked hard at and it’s something I’ve been looking to do.”

And the 26-year-old revealed that plenty of his pals will be there to watch him make his top-flight debut at Manchester United on Sunday.

“They’re not the team I supported,” said the boyhood Arsenal follower. “But most of my mates are United fans so a lot of them are coming over.”

Blues’ performance in the goalless draw against Sporting Gijon was a useful fillip for the team, Fahey argued.

McLeish is unlikely to come over all gung-ho on the champions’ soil, especially considering the defensive problems.

“I thought we looked more solid as a unit as we have done in any pre-season game,” said Fahey, who came closest to scoring, but was denied by a superb clawing stop by Ivan Cuellar.

“We all worked together. We all knew our roles, I thought we looked compact. I know they stroked it about a good bit in the first half, but without really hurting us, and that’s the type of pressure we’re going to get in the Premier League.

“We talked about it a lot in the week because at Crewe, first half especially, we were decent on the ball but when we lost it we looked stretched.

“We have picked up a bit of confidence from Gijon. We were more solid, and that’s one thing to take from it.”

He continued: “The formation was 4-4-1-1 with someone in behind the striker. I think it worked all right. Once we opened up a bit more, we got better.

“I think the most important thing is that we were a tight unit.”

Fahey, Ireland player-of-the-year last season, said he had benefited from a summer break more than most.

Because of the way the Irish and English domestic seasons overlapped, he had been playing non-stop for virtually a year.

“I had a good break in the summer, a couple of months off. I think I needed that. I’m looking forward to it now.”