McLeish slams suggestions of rift

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish has slammed suggestions of him dismissing any players put forward by owner Carson Yeung and the board as "ridiculous."

The Blues boss is focusing on four to five players to strengthen the squad this summer.

But McLeish has strongly denied he is battling for control of playing affairs with Yeung and his back-up staff during negotiations for his new contract.

He said: "There have been big headlines about control which have been ridiculous. The relationship I've got with Carson and the board is terrific.

"I don't go to the board making demands. They don't hit me with demands – we work together and it makes for a better atmosphere when there's a good ambience among us all, which there is.

"If they recommend players to me, I'm not going to dismiss them out of hand. I'm going to do due diligence on these players.

"If we can stick to a list of four or five players, with some back-up along the way. It's better than going through all these names and travelling all over the world to see what these guys can do.

"DVDS can help and (football vice-chairman) Sammy Yu can help by saying 'this player will definitely enhance your squad' and that's the kind of feedback I'm looking for."

Estudiantes striker Mauro Boselli is believed to be a case in point. Blues' football consultant Sammy Yu was working on a deal for the Argentinian forward before the window shut in January.

But McLeish would only do a loan deal because he didn't want to commit money on a player he knew nothing about, which was accepted by Yeung and the board.

The manager, who is willing to loan out David Murphy amid interest from the Championship, is also looking to offer a new contract to veteran keeper Maik Taylor.

He said: "I don't see any reason why we can't agree something with Maik for another year."