McLeish brushes off end of unbeaten run

Having gone undefeated for so long, the Birmingham manager is confident his side can bounce back at Tottenham today.

Birmingham have made quite a name for themselves this season. Alex McLeish's promoted side are eighth in the table, have held Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool to draws and their impressive 15-match unbeaten run was only halted by the Premier League leaders at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Having gone undefeated for so long, McLeish is confident his side can brush off the 3-0 defeat like "a bit of dandruff" and bounce back at Tottenham today.

He said: "It has been a magnificent journey up to now. The long unbeaten run was fantastic and it was great for the players to go so long without a defeat. "To go 15 games unbeaten is an amazing feat by the players and now we have to start again. They certainly have the character in the side to bounce back. "Any side can come unstuck against Chelsea to be honest, especially when they are in that kind of form. When you go to Chelsea you need everyone to be in top form and Chelsea to be off form. But they are buzzing and we were outclassed and I don't think we have been the only team to be outclassed at Stamford Bridge this season.

"Psychologically, it should be a bit of dandruff to be brushed off by the players." While confident there will be no lasting damage from the setback against Chelsea, McLeish know his side face another stern test when they tackle Tottenham, a team four places and seven points above them in the table, in a Champions League spot. He added: "We are talking about a top-four team when you discuss Tottenham. But we are at playing at St Andrew's and that is the underlying factor for us in terms of how we feel when we are playing in front of our own supporters.

"Spurs will come here with great form. Harry Redknapp has again worked his magic wand but we feel we can upset anybody at St Andrew's." Birmingham have £3million (Dh18m) midfielder Craig Gardner available after his arrival from Aston Villa. Meanwhile, Spurs will be able to call on the Monaco striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, who has arrived on loan until the end of the season. The former Chelsea and Barcelona forward joins an attacking line-up which already includes Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko.

"He gives us lots of options," said Redknapp. "He is a very clever footballer." The Tottenham manager also confirmed that Birmingham were in talks for Russian striker Pavlyuchenko but, added: "We're not keen to sell him. We're happy with him. Technically he's a terrific player." [e-mail] Birmingham v Tottenham, 7pm, Showsports 3