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...

Birmingham striker Kevin Phillips has signed a one-year contract extension. The 36-year-old had been tipped to depart St Andrews after the club had been close to signing Palermo’s Fabrizio Miccoli, only for the forward to announce that he wanted to stay in Italy. “Some people may ask why we’ve retained the services of a 36-year-old but let me tell you...