McLeish hails Forssell

Birmingham City's hattrick hero Mikael Forssell has been praised by his boss Alex McLeish after his three goals contributed to the destruction of Tottenham in the Premiership this afternoon at St. Andrews.

McLeish said: "I'm really pleased for Mikael. I've had him in and out of the team since I came here but the lack of goals in previous weeks meant I had to push his experience back into the team.

"He was merciless in front of goal. He could have had four or five goals but his link-up play was also good. He had a terrific game.



"He's had a lot of injury problems and when they are of that magnitude it is going to have some effect.

"It is a case of whether he can play 40 games a season but, when he is as hot as that, we have to wrap him in cotton wool."