McLeish praises boyhood Blue Gardner

Alex McLeish praised Graig Gardner who scored his first goal for Birmingham City in the 2-2 draw with Everton.

The boyhood Blue and former Villa midfielder was a doubt in the run-up to the fixture with a virus and rewarded the fans with a well-taken goal.

McLeish said: “Craig was ill yesterday. He was a doubt this morning. There has been a virus going about and Craig was a victim. He was supposed to come in for a fitness test this morning but told the doctor he was okay.

“He started sluggishly but he got his second wind and became a threat.

“It was a great strike from him for the goal, and, being a Birmingham fan, I know what it will mean to him.”

He added: “That was so typical of what we have done this season and the players just don’t give up.

“Today was another example. Everton could have blown us away in the first 20 minutes.

“We had an early warning when Joe Hart made a good early save but we didn’t heed it. We were quickly two goals down and Everton were strutting their stuff. We knew we had to up the tempo.

“We said at half-time about making sure we didn’t give Everton too much respect and we came back strongly in the second half.”

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