Forssell delighted by McLeish

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Finland international Forssell is relishing life under the control of the former Rangers and Scotland boss and he is confident that McLeish can mark his first taste of life in the Premier League by steering Birmingham to safety.

Forssell said: "The gaffer has been a part of big games and knows what it is all about."

He added: "As we know, he has that fighting spirit. He is tactically good but he has that fighting spirit to survive in this league.

"When he needs to be vocal he his not afraid to make known his feelings.

"I think, for me, he is a fantastic manager in the sense that whatever the result if we do not play well there is no abusive language. It is always constructive criticism.

"This is the way football should be played and managed. We all make mistakes but we need to learn from them and the way he handles that situation is fantastic."

Birmingham face Aston Villa on Sunday looking for revenge over their city neighbours who beat them with a late goal earlier in the season.

"That defeat against Villa earlier in the season was a bitter blow for us," he said.

"We came back into the game at 1-1 and we looked like the team who would go on to win the game. But they came up with that winning goal so we will try to put things right when we play them on Sunday."