McLeish managing expectations after signing Hleb

Manager Alex McLeish admits he does have to manage expectations slightly when it comes to Alexander Hleb as the midfielder adjusts to life having swapped Barcelona for Birmingham. Hleb, a deadline-day signing from the Spanish champions on a season-long loan, cut an impressive figure as he made his home debut for Blues in their 3-1 Carling Cup third-round triumph over MK Dons on Wednesday. The Belarus international broke the deadlock with a sweet strike midway through the first half before seeing two quickfire goals from Nikola Zigic and Craig Gardner all but wrap up the tie. Asked whether he has to manage expectations when bringing in players of Hleb's calibre, McLeish replied: "I suppose we do. "Alex will be used to ball-playing centre-halves and maybe the possession game, but we play the possession game fairly well. "We stopped doing it at the weekend after we lost two gifts of goals against West Brom. But we realise on the training ground that we've got a lot of good players who can pass the ball."

Source: PA