Brum on record run but referee leaves Pulis glum

BIRMINGHAM boss Alex McLeish hailed his side’s unbeaten record run as “an awesome achievement” following their latest success yesterday.

Not since 1908 have Birmingham enjoyed an 11-game stretch in the top flight without defeat, yet 101 years on, that is the mark the current Blues side have achieved.

Cameron Jerome’s bundled 50th-minute effort was enough for a 1-0 win over free-falling Stoke at a bitterly cold Britannia Stadium, aided by two stunning saves from Joe Hart.

“With every week, every victory, every good performance, then the expectations rise, and the players have met them head on,” said McLeish.

“You do worry about players’ fatigue, but when the psychological side of things is as powerful as it is in our dressing room at the moment, you don’t feel tiredness.

“The run we’re on at the moment is an awesome achievement from the players, and they were certainly that again today.’’

Stoke boss Tony Pulis, meanwhile, espoused a bizarre conspiracy theory after watching his side slump to another defeat.

Pulis was left frustrated at the latest refereeing decision he feels robbed his side of at least a point when Birmingham defender Stephen Carr brought down Robert Huth after Jerome’s opener.

It was one of those penalty area tussles that can go either way in a referee’s mind, but on this occasion, Martin Atkinson was left unmoved.

Pulis, though, believes there was more to it than that as he said: “Martin’s looking at it, and I just don’t know why he doesn’t give it.”

He then added: “We’ve a problem here. There’s a preconceived idea that the crowd is so fanatical, and so much behind the team.

“They (referees) almost come in with a point to prove, that they won’t be swayed by the crowd.

“It’s not the first time it’s happened at this football club where we haven’t got what we deserved.

“I think referees are coming here to prove they are strong enough not to react to the crowd. But you look at it, it’s as blatant a penalty as you will see, and he is five yards away from it.”

STOKE CITY: Sorensen, Higginbotham, Huth, Shawcross, Faye, Lawrence (Sidibe 82), Whitehead, Tuncay, Delap, Etherington, Beattie (Fuller 70).

BIRMINGHAM CITY: Hart, Carr, Ridgewell, Johnson, Dann, Bowyer, Larsson (Fahey 77), Ferguson, Jerome, Benitez, McFadden.

Referee: Martin Atkinson.