Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish is demanding a top ten finish from his squad.

Their away form has faltered in recent weeks, including Sunday's 5-1 defeat against Manchester City at Eastlands, and McLeish is wary.

"There are teams coming up on the rails like Everton and Fulham. Blackburn have had a great run of results and Sunderland and Stoke are coming up there," he said.

"There is going to be great competition between now and the end of the season.

"There is still fantastic motivation for the players and the tools have not been downed despite Sunday's defeat.

"You can see that and the players want to keep it going until the end of the season. I'm challenging them to finish in the top half."