Forssell Hails Birmingham's Own Special One

Alex McLeish earned plenty of accolades during his time in charge of Scotland but Mikael Forssell might have broken new ground after he compared Birmingham City's manager to Jose Mourinho. It is not the most obvious parallel to draw after three matches that have yielded four points but Forssell, also ignoring McLeish's red hair, mild manner and Scottish accent, insists there is more than a hint of the Special One about Steve Bruce's replacement.

"McLeish reminds me of Mourinho," said the Finn. "I played under Mourinho [at Chelsea] and he believed in working as a team when we defend and looking at videos of how other teams play. That is what we are doing now under McLeish." That was not always the case under McLeish's predecessor, which seemed to be another point Forssell was intent on making. Bruce was not renowned for his planning and it appears there was little else in his repertoire that impressed Forssell. The 26-year-old forward had been unable to convince the previous manager he was over his injury problems. "He said to me he didn't think I was fit but I said I was," said Forssell, who was also exasperated with Bruce's cautious tactics.

"McLeish has encouraged us to attack more," said Forssell, who scored his third goal of the season against Reading. "At home we play two up front now and cause defenses more problems. That is a different approach to the old manager."

That was certainly the case against Reading when Forssell bundled home in the fourth minute to give McLeish the perfect start to his first match at St Andrew's. Mat Sadler then gift-wrapped an equalizer when his short back-pass invited Stephen Hunt to convert from the spot after Maik Taylor upended the winger in full flight.

Birmingham would still have secured a precious home win but Marcus Hahnemann's performance in goal and Ibrahima Sonko's elastic limbs, the defender hooking clear Sebastian Larsson's header, ensured Reading collected their first point on the road in seven matches. "Talk of second-season syndrome is bollocks," said Hunt. "It's just as important we get our game together away from home."

Man of the match Marcus Hahnemann (Reading)