MALKY: HARD WORK PAYS OFF

"I'm very pleased," he said after the game. "It was always going to be a tough game this evening, against a team full of experience, even on the bench. They had just come off a brilliant result against Brighton, so it was always going to be a hard night here against Birmingham.

"We knew it was going to be difficult and we had to change the way we played slightly from how we played against Blackpool. We had to work hard for our openings and maybe on another day we would have four or five more chances despatched to make life a little bit easier.

"The work rate was key tonight, starting from Craig Bellamy up top and working all the way back. We were closing down and pressing this team high, making sure that they didn't get too much time on the ball. Overall I thought that our quality was great, especially in the wide areas high up the pitch, with the balls flashing across their six yard box. And as said, on another day we would have done better with one of those, making the last twenty minutes a little more comfortable."

Praise was earned across the board, with skipper Mark Hudson high on the list having scored one himself after playing a vital part in Craig Bellamy's opener.

Of his captain, Malky said, "Mark scored and set one up, just like Matt Connolly did for us on the weekend. I expect that from our centre-backs from set pieces, we've got to aggressively attack those. All around the park tonight I thought we had great performances. We defended resolutely and found ways to break at the other end to earn the win.

"We've got to be consistent now. At home we have picked up five straight wins against five very good teams, including Birmingham tonight. And the challenge for us over the course of the season is to maintain that level of consistency as much as possible. It's doing that that makes you a challenger at the end of a very long season."