Alex McLeish believes his Birmingham City side are still evolving and have plenty to do in the Premier League.
Blues boss says his players have risen to the challenges
Alex McLeish believes his Birmingham City side are still evolving and have plenty to do in the Premier League.
McLeish celebrated his third anniversary as manager of the club on Sunday - a day after his side recorded a sensational 1-0 victory against league leaders Chelsea.
The St Andrews club finished a respectable ninth in their first season back in the top flight and now the Blues boss is determined to fashion a stable top-flight club.
And despite some summer transfer disappointments, McLeish insists his squad have not looked out of our depth against anybody.
Challenges
"The highs and lows of football," mused McLeish.
"That's why it's so important you don't get too disappointed with negative results, especially this early in the season.
"I know myself how difficult the feelings are and the emotions, when you have a bad result and we take it every bit as bad as the fans, if not worse. I can assure you of that.
"It's very competitive the league this season. I don't know what the comparison would be statistically but it seems clubs are on higher points than they may have been in recent years of scrapping because there have been surprises.
"Blackpool had a storming start, West Brom the same.
"Before the Man City game, and looking ahead to Chelsea, we were tipped to get nought out of six points and go deeper into trouble.
"But for the players to rise to the challenges, to get four points from those top teams, was quite a phenomenal achievement."
McLeish continued: "I feel this season we haven't looked out of our depth against anybody.
"And I do genuinely feel we should have had more points on the board."
