Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish admits he had a blazing row with former managing director Karren Brady last season.

They fell out when the former Blues chief executive went public near the end of the club's promotion campaign.

She said McLeish was ­suffering in "Scolari territory - our team is inferior to the sum of its talent".

The two meet up again on Wednesday when Birmingham go to West Ham, where Brady is now vice-chairman.

And McLeish, who kept a diplomatic silence at the time, admitted: "Karren probably thought her comments would serve a purpose.

"But what she said was against my principles of team spirit. I told her not to write about the team and concentrate on all the other little funny stories because it was running against my team spirit ethic.

"Deep down she might not have been happy at my response, but she certainly took it on the chin and apologised."