Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish insists he is working to instil a winning mentality in his team after their shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of managerless Queens Park Rangers.

The Blues boss was left furious by the manner of his side’s defeat at Loftus Road on Tuesday night when the quality of the football was hampered by rain and snow. He had seen Blues turn in an awe-inspiring performance against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend to win 3-1 at St Andrew’s which made Tuesday night’s defeat all the more disappointing. But the Scots is pleased with his team’s start to the season which has seen them amass 30 points from 14 games.

He said: “I’m disappointed, not just that we lost but more with the manner of our performance. Early in the first half, we controlled the midfield and had a couple of excellent chances – shots from Cameron Jerome and Kevin Phillips that were both saved by Radek Cerny.

“It could have been very different if we had gone ahead at that stage, but we didn’t and the rest of the game was really very disappointing. I was raging at full-time and I’m sure that the fans who came down here and gave us wonderful support were raging too, and I can understand that.

“”With the players we have, we should have been better but it wasn’t to be and what is important is that we bounce back, starting against Coventry City at St. Andrew’s next Monday.”

The fact that the match has been put back 48 hours for television may well help with regard to getting injured players fit again. The Loftus Road defeat was compounded by a groin injury picked up in the warm-up by Garry O’Connor and a hamstring problem suffered by Stuart Parnaby after just ten minutes.

Sebastian Larsson had been omitted due to a groin injury while Blues have Damien Johnson, Stephen Kelly, Radhi Jaidi and David Murphy in the treatment room.

McLeish was pleased to see Academy youngster Jared Wilson, aged 19, make his debut after Parnaby was carried off. The manager added: “Jared is an excellent player and I’ve always said I’d have no problem putting him in at some point. He did very well and although all players can always keep learning and improving, he’s got a very bright future.”