Source: PA
McLeish hails resilient Blues
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish admitted he was put through the cup wringer again by his team before emerging with an 3-2 victory in the FA Cup fourth-round clash against Coventry at St Andrew's.
Three days after coming from 3-1 down on aggregate to beat West Ham and reach the Carling Cup final, Blues were two down inside 26 minutes thanks to goals from Marlon King and Richard Wood before David Bentley, Stuart Parnaby and Kevin Phillips secured a 3-2 victory.
McLeish said: "I wouldn't want to live through that too often with the stress levels but I thought the team played well. There was a lot of really good stuff."
One of the few disappointing performances came from giant striker Nikola Zigic, and McLeish confirmed that Racing Santander have made an enquiry to take their former player back. The Scot, though, insisted no decision has yet been made and denied Zigic would definitely be on his way if the club manage to agree a loan deal for Rubin Kazan striker Obafemi Martins.
"Santander have been in touch but we'll be together in the decision with the board as we always are," said McLeish. "I said after the midweek game that it would be difficult to let Ziggy go on that kind of form."
Of the prospect of landing former Newcastle forward Martins, the Blues boss added: "We're trying to get him. We're working hard on that but it's not a done deal yet."
