McLeish happy with system

Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has urged the club's fans to be patient after they turned against him during Saturday's home defeat to Bolton Wanderers.

The Blues supporters were frustrated at McLeish's perseverance with just one striker during the 2-1 loss at St Andrew's and chanted '4-4-2' at times during the match.

Former Scotland manager McLeish said after the game: "When a lot of people are chanting, you tend to think 'maybe they're right'.

"At the same time I think it's a little bit harsh. We've been playing well with that (4-5-1) system.

"We wanted to have something to hold on to and then we can go for a goal, but we shot ourselves in the foot with the start and the set-piece they scored from. It's criminal.

"There's not any evidence that 4-4-2 means we'd create any more chances, as the Stoke City game and the Portsmouth game proved.

"We had a great crowd which was fantastic. It was great to see St Andrew's so full and now they've got to give us the patience, trust us and get behind us because I think we're a better side than last year in the Championship. You'd like to think so with the acquisitions."