McLeish relieved to end away woe

Alex McLeish was pleased Birmingham broke their away hoodoo after his side snatched a last-gasp 2-1 win over Blackpool on Tuesday.

Scott Dann’s 90th minute winner at Bloomfield Road gave McLeish’s side their first away win of the season.

But with the club in the midst of a relegation battle, McLeish said he was happy with the points wherever they were playing.

“I am delighted to win the game first and foremost,” McLeish told Sky Sports.

“I suppose people will stop asking about the away record now, although they might be asking me about it only being one (away win) in six months time.”

“But it is three valuable points and that is the main thing.”

McLeish praised his side for continuing to play positively despite going into the match in 18th spot on the Premier League table.

“It is a great lift,” McLeish said.

“The players themselves know they played extremely well in the first half and that they didn’t do so well in the second half, but there is obviously a big psychological effect when you find yourself at the bottom of the table.”

“Sometimes people can be a little bit uptight and apprehensive and that was a little bit evident in the second half – although I felt we had enough chances in us to have had a bit of daylight before Blackpool came back into it.”

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway credited Birmingham for curbing his side’s attacking play, but said he was not disappointed with the result given the hosts had not been at their best.

“I hold it up to Alex, I think it was a great game and he came up with something that stopped us (from playing) but we did much better than the one at their place,” Holloway said.

“I’m still delighted with the performance. We didn’t play that well today, but we kept going and we manage to create all sorts in the second half.”