Alex McLeish has praised the character of Barry Ferguson after he played through the pain of a broken rib.
Blues boss impressed after midfielder plays through injury
Alex McLeish has praised the character of Barry Ferguson after the midfielder played through the pain of a broken rib against Arsenal.
Ferguson suffered the injury during Birmingham's surprise 2-1 Carling Cup victory over the Gunners at Wembley on Sunday, but continued to play for 60 minutes despite his discomfort.
And manager McLeish hailed the spirit of the former Scotland international, who is consequently unlikely to be unavailable for the Blues' lunchtime home clash with West Brom on Saturday.
"There are a lot of players on empty," McLeish said. "Ferguson played an hour with a broken rib.
"It shows his pain threshold. It's frightening but it shows the character of the guy to do that. He's a doubt for the weekend and Craig Gardner is as well."
Accusation
McLeish also defended Ferguson following an accusation from Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere of bad sportsmanship.
England midfielder Wilshere hit out at the 33-year-old Scot for ruffling the hair of defender Laurent Koscielny as he celebrated immediately after Obafemi Martins' last-gasp winner on Sunday.
Wilshere posted on
Twitter: "Well done to the Birmingham City player who slapped Koscielny on the head when they scored, very big of you!"
McLeish insists Wilshere's remark was 'cyber bullying', but says Birmingham have already moved on from the incident.
"It's not my world, Twitter and all that stuff," added McLeish.
"Cyber bullying is not for me. I don't want to comment on it, it's moved forward.
"Somebody else from Arsenal will only say something in response to what I say. It will go on and on. Let's draw a line under it."
