McLeish gambles on Forssell fitness

ALEX MCLEISH believes Mikael Forssell will play a decisive role in Birmingham’s bid to stay in the Premier League — if he can remain fit.

McLeish revealed he tried to buy Forssell from Chelsea three-and-a-half years ago during his reign as Rangers manager after scoring 19 goals on loan to City during the 2003-2004 campaign.

Forssell instead chose to return to St Andrews in a permanent €4.5million deal only for the Finnish international to then be dogged by knee problems.

This season a hernia operation checked a promising start to the campaign in which he scored on the opening day at Stamford Bridge.

But Forssell looked sharp when making his first start under McLeish and scoring in Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Reading.

McLeish said: “I’ve seen him in international football — and we got an international-type performance against Reading from Mikael. We just hope we can keep him fit because he is very important to the squad.”

Forssell is confident both he and strike partner Cameron Jerome will benefit from the more attack-minded approach encouraged by McLeish.

He said: “We have had a change in the manager and he is encouraging us to attack more. He is encouraging us to play more on the ball and actually cause defences problems.

“That is a slightly different approach to games than what the old manager (Steve Bruce) had. I am not saying it is a bad thing but at least we have more courage to do things.”

Reading boss Steve Coppell praised the performance of midfielder Stephen Hunt whose second-half penalty ended a run of six successive away defeats for the Royals.

Coppell said: “I would say Stephen typifies the spirit of our team with his work-rate and effort. That is a man who was a free transfer from Brentford. It shows what a pro can achieve if he is really dedicated.”

BIRMINGHAM (4-4-2): Taylor 6, Kelly 6, Schmitz 6, Ridgewell 7, Sadler 6, Larsson 6, Johnson 6, Muamba 6, McSheffrey 6, Forssell 7 (O’Connor 75, 5), Jerome 8.

Subs Not Used: Doyle, De Ridder, Parnaby, Jaidi.

READING (4-4-2): Hahnemann 8, Murty 6, Sonko 7, Ingimarsson 6, Shorey 6, Hunt 7, Harper 6, Gunnarsson 5 (Cisse 28, 6), Convey 6 (Long 84, 5), Doyle 6, Kitson 6.

Subs Not Used: Federici, Lita, Bikey.

REFEREE: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 7: A game that flows freely is generally a sign of assured refereeing and this was no exception.

MATCH RATING: *** Entertaining stuff: Birmingham fans left with high hopes for the Alex McLeish era, while Reading are grateful for anything on their travels.