McLeish gets timely boost as he faces tricky month ahead

Birmingham City 3 Middlesbrough 0:It will not have escaped Alex McLeish's attention that Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea all feature on his side's January fixture list but the three points gleaned here and the expectation of another victory when Fulham visit on Saturday ought to encourage rather then chasten the Birmingham City manager as he plots the road ahead. This was a crucial first win for McLeish at St Andrew's as Birmingham hauled Middlesbrough back into the relegation scrap.

The scoreline flattered the home team, with Gary McSheffrey adding a penalty in injury-time, although Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager, had no complaints after suffering a second successive league defeat. All three Birmingham goals stemmed from poor defending, while at the other end of the pitch there was more evidence to support the statistics that show Boro have the bluntest strikeforce in the league behind Derby County.

Birmingham's lead arrived in farcical circumstances. McSheffrey's inswinging free-kick from the right ought to have been dealt with by Stewart Downing but the Middlesbrough winger seemed to take his eye of the ball and somehow contrived to slice his intended clearance backwards rather than forwards. That the contact was made with Downing's favoured left foot compounded his embarrassment as the ball veered inside the near post.

It was a concession that Southgate had good cause to lament and he may also want to view footage of Birmingham's second goal, which came via another set piece, from behind the sofa. Cameron Jerome was able to flick on Sebastian Larsson's corner with relative ease, encouraging Mikael Forssell, who was also granted too much freedom in the six-yard box, to stab a close-range shot over the line.

Forssell's fourth of the season, on the stroke of half-time, meant Middlesbrough pushed forward in numbers after the restart but, although chances arrived for the visitors, none of them was taken.

Birmingham also had opportunities in the second half. Larsson struck a 25-yard shot narrowly wide and Mark Schwarzer was grateful to see Radhi Jaidi's towering header strike his chest and not the net. The Middlesbrough keeper was not so fortunate when McSheffrey despatched his spot-kick in the closing seconds after he had been upended by Huth. "That result won't have done the confidence any harm," added McLeish.