Blues boss delighted by Foster's form

28 October 2010 20:47
irmingham manager Alex McLeish has hailed the immediate impact made by summer signing Ben Foster.[LNB] McLeish believes Foster, signed from Manchester United for £6 million, has started his St Andrew's career even better than Joe Hart 12 month ago.[LNB]Hart capped a successful loan spell at Blues by earning a place in the World Cup squad and is now the Manchester City and England number one.[LNB]But he made initial errors last season, whereas Foster has been a solid performer from the start of the campaign.[LNB]McLeish said: "I think Ben has gone up a level and started better than Joe Hart did here.[LNB]"Joe came on here on loan from Manchester City and ended up having a fantastic season.[LNB]"Ben has started very solid indeed and we are delighted with the guy.[LNB]"He has got a little bit more experience than Joe and I am not surprised how well he is doing. He is a good goalkeeper and he just needed really to be injury free and to play first team football."[LNB]McLeish is confident midfielder Alexander Hleb will be fit for Sunday's Second City derby at Aston Villa.[LNB]The on-loan Barcelona player suffered a twisted knee during last weekend's 2-0 win over Blackpool.[LNB]McLeish said: "Guys like Hleb are still trying to find full fitness. He is still missing training days.[LNB]"We really need him to get in full weeks of training to get him up to speed so that is a little disruptive in terms of momentum.[LNB]"But we saw the signs against Blackpool of a very entertaining player and he is fit to play on Sunday."[LNB]

Source: Team_Talk