McLeish has calmed Birmingham

Birmingham City striker Mikael Forssell has said boss Alex McLeish has created a positive attitude at St Andrews - an attitude that will help improve performances on the pitch.

The 26-year-old Finnish international said McLeish has made a difference since taking over from Steve Bruce and that the players no longer "mope about for days" after bad results.

Forssell told the club's official site: "Birmingham is a very professional club and Alex has made a difference. Now when we get a bad result we don't mope about for days afterwards.

"We react straight away and the coach trips home are always positive atmospheres. We try to get over it and work hard on Mondays to get things right."

But with Birmingham only out of the relegation-zone on goal-difference - and the battle to retain Premier League status likely to be a close-run thing - it was especially pleasing that Forssell mentioned the calmness on the pitch that McLeish has brought to the club.

He said: "Under Alex we try to pass the ball more and keep the ball more, which calms the game down and takes the pressure off our defence."

With home matches against Arsenal and Manchester United next on the list, hopefully that calmness can be translated into a tight defence - as getting just one point from the two games could make all the difference come the end of the season.