Birmingham City defender Stephen Carr praises his teammates

Dec 7 2010 by Gregg Evans, Birmingham Mail

STEPHEN Carr has praised the players in front of him for helping to provide the support for his impressive performances.

The right-back has been a revelation since coming out of retirement to play for Blues and has proved to be one of the best bits of business Alex McLeish has done in his time at St Andrew’s.

The boss says the defender is a ‘machine’ in training as well as on the pitch, and on Saturday he put in another assured display to keep red-hot Gareth Bale quiet.

Carr had a tough task on his hands to keep out Spurs’ wing wizard but he stuck at it and did well to limit the danger posed by the in-form Welshman.

Although it was his job to mark dangerman Bale, Carr praised the efforts of the players further up the field for stopping him in his tracks.

“It’s what you get in front of you that helps you,” said the 34-year-old.

“(On Saturday) we got help from the front and it helped.

“Bale’s going to be an unbelievable player in the future and he’s already having a great season.

“I’ve played against some great players and he’s up there.

“It’s his pace and the way he runs at you. He’s like an old-school winger as well.

“Giggs used to always get the ball and run at you. Bale just goes at you too.

“I thought I did OK but I had a lot of help from in front, which helps.”

Blues have now denied all the Premier League big boys a victory at St Andrew’s in 2010 after the 1-1 draw with Spurs on Saturday.