Source: PA
Mixed feelings for McLeish
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish felt his side were hit by "a double-whammy" in their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle at St James` Park.
The Carling Cup winners had defender Liam Ridgewell controversially dismissed for deliberate handball 10 minutes before the break to spark a madcap and ultimately decisive flurry of activity.
Shola Ameobi converted the resulting penalty to give the Magpies the advantage and when Steven Taylor powered home a second from Joey Barton's corner, the game looked to be over.
However, Lee Bowyer marked his return to Tyneside with a 45th-minute strike, which went in off Fabricio Coloccini's leg, to give the visitors hope but they remain three points above the drop zone.
McLeish said: "We had a double-whammy. Taylor probably should have been off the park leading with his elbow on Cameron Jerome's cheekbone earlier in the game. We don't want to see that type of thing. Look at my nose and the stitches I have had over the years. That type of challenge is outlawed, but unfortunately the ref didn't see it."
On the penalty decision, he added: "It hit his arm and he on was on the line. It wasn't going towards the goal, it was going to the side, but Kevin Nolan was probably in a good position to get on the end of it. The referee saw the arm going towards the ball and that is a penalty, those are the rules."
