McLeish Stands Behind Ridgewell

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has no problems in the way Liam Ridgewell tackled Theo Walcott at the Emirates on Saturday.

Walcott had to be taken off after the challenge and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was not happy at the tackle or the chants that came from the Blues fans after.

But the tackle reminded McLeish of your old fashioned defender and he said after the game: ‘It was like watching Stuart Pearce again, committed to getting the ball before the forward.

‘The problem sometimes is in the follow through. But what do you do? You will end up not making a tackle at all.’

Wenger commented: ‘I don’t want to go too overboard because one of the beauties of the English game is a total commitment, and if you cut that out of the game, the players will not improve any more.

‘So we have to cut out what is really dangerous, but we have to keep the basics, the commitment that makes the league more attractive than any other.’