Blues boss McLeish remains upbeat despite thrashing
Sunday, 20 Apr 2008 19:49
The Blues have just one win from their last seven games
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish insists he can take some positives out of the 5-1 defeat by
Aston Villa at Villa Park.
The Blues finish the weekend in the relegation zone following Bolton Wanderer's 1-0 win over
Middlesbrough yesterday.
McLeish's side were outclassed from the start and went down to braces from Ashley Young and John Carew, with Gabriel Agbonlahor completing the rout.
The Blues have a crunch game at home to
Liverpool next Saturday, followed by a trip to
Fulham.
McLeish insists his side can still survive despite today's crushing defeat.
"I can take some things from the game and we have been a different team at home," McLeish said.
"It's all about our next three games - we have to take as many points from those games as we can. This match doesn't mean we're going down
"We were on the end of a bruising from a really good Villa side.
"Villa's front men were on fire and we were unable to string any passes together until the second half."
Meanwhille, a jubilant Martin O'Neill believes his side have a great chance to qualify for the Uefa Cup after moving into sixth spot.
"We played terrifically well. There was a great atmosphere and we had to be ready for this game – we clearly were," O'Neill said.
""We're in the mix now. We go into a very difficult game next week at
Everton and we know what's expected of us.
"It's a tall order, but we're hoping we're ready for it."