McLeish troubles are exposed as Anelka takes full advantage

Nicolas Anelka might have exacted a soupcon of revenge for Frenchmen everywhere for Scot McLeish's stunning Euro 2008 double over Les Bleus, but the other Blues were giving goals away for fun.

Anelka's goals, allied to the crucial opener by El Hadji Diouf, hoisted Bolton above their relegation rivals and inflicted an afternoon on Taylor that Birmingham's goalkeeper did not deserve.

But when your team-mates so kindly supply the opposition — Anelka owes both Johan Djourou and Cameron Jerome a Christmas drink for their help — then saving the day becomes an impossible task.

Djourou's hapless throw-in never threatened to reach Taylor before Anelka pounced, and a weary Jerome pinged a pass straight to Kevin Nolan to provide Anelka's coup de grace.

Northern Ireland veteran Taylor said: "We've been really pleased with our performances but after the last 15 minutes here there's only one place we're going playing like that and making those mistakes.

"The gaffer's giving us Christmas Day off but we don't deserve it to be honest. It's a recovery day. We can enjoy Christmas with our families but we need to be professional and focus on the job in hand."

McLeish said: "I've managed clubs before who were scrapping so I'll use that experience. You need guts and determination to fight back. I can't leave every player out, we have to stop making errors."

Quality is what will keep Bolton up and manager Gary Megson knows how important Anelka and Diouf are if they are to survive.

Anelka will find it hard to reject Chelsea overtures next month, hence Bolton's interest in Real Madrid's Javier Saviola. But Diouf, who is being monitored by Portsmouth, insists he will be back after his African Nations Cup duty with Senegal.

He said: "I'll definitely stay here for the rest of the season. I want to do as well as I can before I go to Ghana to make sure Bolton are safe from relegation."

BOLTON (4-1-4-1): Jaaskelainen 6; Hunt 7, O'Brien 6, Meite 6, Gardner 7; Campo 5 (McCann 58min, 7); Davies 7 (Samuel 80), Nolan 6, Guthrie 5, Diouf 8; Anelka 7. Booked: Hunt, Diouf, Gardner.

BIRMINGHAM (4-5-1): Taylor 6; Kelly 5, Jaidi 5, Schmitz 6, Sadler 5 (Kapo 46, 5); Larsson 6, Muamba 6, Johnson 7, Djourou 5, McSheffrey 6 (O'Connor 75, 5); Jerome 5. Booked: Jaidi, Johnson.

Man of the match: El Hadji Diouf.

Referee: Chris Foy.