More balls at St Andrews

Birmingham City are switching to the multi-ball system for the forthcoming new season at St Andrews.

From now on, all league games will have eight balls positioned around the ground and when the ball goes out of play, another will be thrown back while the original is retrieved.

The exercise will take place in all games at St Andrews except for FA Cup ties.

Alex McLeish told the club`s official website: ‘We want to play with a positive attitude and keep the tempo up all the time at St. Andrews.

‘We believe that by using the multi-ball system it will keep the game flowing as much as possible which is why we’ve decided to introduce it.

‘It might take a while for it to bed in whilst everybody gets used to using it.’