McLeish had concerns over Ferguson

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish admits he questioned whether Barry Ferguson could cope with the pace of the Barclays Premier League before signing the midfielder who put pen to paper on a one-year contract extension on Friday. Ferguson volunteered to come and train with the Blues and prove he still had plenty to offer last summer, before making his cut-price switch from Rangers. It proved to be a wise signing by McLeish as Ferguson was voted Blues' player of the year, and he has now signed a new deal which will keep him at St. Andrew's until the end of the 2011-2012 campaign. McLeish, who managed Ferguson as Rangers and Scotland boss, said: "I'm delighted Fergie has signed the contract extension. I suppose he did better than I expected last season. "I say that because I remember speaking to him last summer and saying I wasn't sure whether he still had the legs for the Premier League. "I felt that because he's always been a guy who plays with his heart and soul, who plays through injuries and he has had a lot of bad injuries in his career. But he said `I will come in and train with you, prove myself to you'."

Source: PA