The title is gone admits McLeish

Ten-man Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by plucky Plymouth at St Andrew's in an encounter full of incident, while Mick McCarthy's Wolves side claimed a dramatic 3-2 triumph at Derby.

Asked whether Blues were battling for second now, McLeish said: "I think realistically yes. But we'll keep going, we've got to go to Watford and win and try and win the rest of our games.

"But if the league finished today, with us second, then I think we'll be quite happy."

The point gained against Plymouth will go down as one gained in the circumstances, but would have been looked upon as two dropped before kick-off.

The game's main talking point came in the 23rd minute when Maik Taylor was given his marching orders for bringing down Jamie Mackie, who was bearing down on goal with Liam Ridgewell chasing behind.

Referee Michael Oliver adjudged the foul to have happened inside the area, although replays later proved the Plymouth striker was upended outside the box.

McLeish later admitted Blues will file for wrongful dismissal.

Paul Gallagher tucked away the resulting penalty, leaving 10-man Blues chasing the game. But Franck Queudrue's header rescued what could prove to be a crucial point for the hosts.

But Birmingham's afternoon was also soured by the news defender Ridgewell innocuously suffered a suspected broken leg in the first half, with his season now likely to be over.

McLeish said: "I'm proud of the players, I'm really proud of them. Their efforts, their spirit, their heart, the fire in their belly, they were absolutely knackered.

"I think the game against Wolves with 10 men took its toll at the weekend (against Charlton), and yesterday we found another spark. I think we got at least what we deserved, I'm disappointed with the time we had left when Franck scored that we didn't go on and win it."

Regarding the penalty, he added: "It's not even in the box first and foremost, Maik also thinks he kicked it off the lad."