Christian Benitez must not get down on himself after fluffing in front of goal at St Andrew's, said Birmingham boss Alex McLeish. Benitez is still seeking to net for the first time in front of the home fans and spurned two good opportunities against Tottenham.

"I hope he's not desperate to the point where it tightens him up, in terms of his touch becoming agitated. He's got to relax and his chance will come," McLeish told the Birmingham Mail.

"If we can get more balls to him in the box, if we're in the ascendancy in the game and we have the opposition pinned back, I think that's where he's really dangerous and where he comes alive.

"He's made a lot of goals for us with his assists, his fantastic lay-offs to Lee Bowyer, Sebastian Larsson at Everton; there's three or four others.

"I feel for him that he has not got a goal yet at St Andrew's, maybe he has got to put his laces through the ball, like the chance he had in the first half, rather than try to curl it past the goalkeeper.

"He carved out a fantastic chance for himself, it was a great turn of the big defender, but the shot ended up powder-puff.

"But Chucho was dangerous and I think the team appreciate that he is.

"No doubt the wee man brings us something, he causes defenders problems, and he and Cameron Jerome have formed a good partnership."