Source: Team_Talk
City boss hails 'outstanding' Given
Given made a string of outstanding saves and then capped his display by stopping a second-half penalty from Birmingham midfielder James McFadden.[LNB]It again showed why Hughes was willing to splash out £8million last January in bringing Given to Eastlands from Newcastle.[LNB]Hughes said: "I gave Shay a glowing tribute before the game, not that he needed it, but he is an outstanding keeper.[LNB]"He has been top drawer for the majority of his career and I am very pleased that he is with Manchester City.[LNB]"He kept us in this game with Birmingham after we had struggled to impose ourselves for long periods.[LNB]"Birmingham chased us down and maybe we got sucked into the way Birmingham wanted to play and it was definitely one point gained rather than two points lost."[LNB]Hughes' expensively-assembled side have now drawn four successive league games but he is still happy with the overall progress being made by his team.[LNB]He said: "People talk about the four draws but three of them have been away from home so we have still been picking up points.[LNB]"We made a flying start to the season and because of that people expected us to win every game.[LNB]"That is not going to happen this year and, if you look around, everyone in this league is dropping points.[LNB]"We needed to knuckle down today to get something from the game and that is what we managed even though we didn't play as well as we are capable of.[LNB]"We might have had a penalty near the end but, if we had won the game, I think it would have been unfair on Birmingham."[LNB]Blues manager Alex McLeish was also full of praise for Given but was delighted with his side's showing as they followed up last weekend's victory over Sunderland.[LNB]He said: "We came into the dressing room disappointed not to win and it was a very powerful performance.[LNB]"They (the players) gave everything. The only thing that let us down was the final touch but other than that how can I fault the performance of the players?[LNB]"I have now seen three games in a row where we have produced quality and consistency and only a man-of-the-match performance from Shay Given stopped us from winning.[LNB]"That is why Manchester City paid good money for him. They say great keepers can save you 10 points during a season.[LNB]"That has been proven over the years and we have just seen a terrific keeper capable of that sort of thing."[LNB]Birmingham midfielder Barry Ferguson was sent off in injury time for two bookable offences and will now miss the game at Liverpool on Monday week.[LNB]The former Scotland international picked up his second booking when blocking an attempted throw by Pablo Zabaleta.[LNB]McLeish said: "Barry came in and said he was daft. He knows we will miss him at Anfield and it will cost the team with us having such a fragile squad.[LNB]"We can't afford to lose players through a silly act of indiscipline."[LNB][LNB]
