McLeish praises Blues old pair

Alex McLeish has paid tribute to Birmingham’s golden oldies Kevin Phillips and Maik Taylor.

Phillips, 37 scored Birmingham’s equaliser in the Carling Cup win against Brentford, while Taylor, 38 saved Craig Woodman’s spot-kick to seal a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win.

McLeish said: “It was not about loyalty as such when we gave them new contracts in the summer.

“In this game as a manager, at times you have to be quite ruthless.

“But we felt there was still mileage in these two guys and you saw in this cup tie that there certainly is.

“Kevin will never lose that knack in the danger area, his ability, his touch, his awareness.

“He is a classy guy and he despatched his penalty as well in the shoot-out.

“He probably feels he has not got the real sharpness because he has not been featuring much but Kevin is a guy we know, if we bring him in, will produce something.”

McLeish added: “Maik is also a top pro and I think some advice from Dave Watson (goalkeeping coach) helped with the last penalty.

“He said the chap who took the last penalty (Woodman) tended to hit it straight down the middle and Maik stood his ground and saved it.

“It was some good information and this is why research is very important.”

McLeish admitted: “Brentford were excellent, superbly organised and I thought we were out of the cup.

“But the never-say-die resilience of the team came to the fore again.

“When you’ve got the hunger and desire to go right to the end, then you can never say that you are finished until that final whistle.”

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