Source: PA
McLeish wants upward journey to continue
Boss Alex McLeish has challenged his Birmingham players to avoid a bout of "second season syndrome" and cement their place in the Barclays Premier League.
Blues were one of the surprise teams of last season, finishing ninth after being promoted as runners-up from the Championship. They were never outside the top 10 after December and built their success on an impressive home record.
They did not taste defeat at St Andrew's after September and shared the spoils there with all of the so-called top four in Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool - in addition to Tottenham and Everton.
But McLeish knows there are examples of teams doing even better than Birmingham in their first season of top flight football - notably Reading and Ipswich - in recent years and then being relegated the following season.
The former Scotland boss told Press Association Sport: "I have got to applaud the players for what they achieved last season. They exceeded all expectations. Relatively speaking, it was as good as anything I have achieved as a manager. It was a marvellous season. The players scaled incredible heights.
"The challenge is `can we do it again in the coming season?' That's the challenge for us. People talk of second season syndrome and there have been clubs who have suffered that before. You can't rest for a moment, you can't get complacent, you can't get casual. The Premier League will hurt you if you do that. We will try and keep the drive, keep the composure, keep the winning mentality."
