Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish is expecting a big performance from his players today against Middlesbrough after giving them Christmas off.

He said: "If the players had told me they'd rather be in a hotel then I'd have taken them to one.

"But it's a bit of goodwill and, by goodness, I'll be looking for a return from them.

"I don't know what the fuss is about Christmas Day. If you call them in then all you do is tick a couple of boxes to say they were in. The players run about for 50 minutes - does that make you more prepared for the next day?"