Point pleases relieved McLeish

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish described a share of the spoils against draw specialists Swansea on Sunday as a "point gained".

Blues held on after the 68th-minute sending-off of David Murphy for a hard-earned point and it could have been a lot worse had Jason Scotland not wasted three gilt-edged chances.

McLeish admitted: "We were second best against Swansea and were outmanoeuvred in midfield.

"At the end of the day it was a point gained for us. I am grateful for small mercies from what was a poor performance.

"I have to give Swansea credit for their display. They were excellent and I said last week they are the best footballing side we have played this season and I do not change my mind after this game.

"There is no particular reason for our performance. It was a credit to Swansea that they made us look ineffective.

"The irony is that we could have won the match as Cameron Jerome had our best chance late in the game.

"But we nicked a point and that was a bonus as we do not have out and out goalscorers in the team."

He added: "My concern is that we did not play well on the day and this is something we needs to be addressed.

"There was a lot of spirit shown and my goalkeeper Maik Taylor kept us in the game with a good save.

"There was a lot of commitment and James McFadden probably played his best football when we were down to ten men."