It does not come as any great surprise that Kevin Phillips keeps going strong and is scoring regularly for Blues.

Yet manager Alex McLeish feels the former Villa and Albion favourite could do with some help from those around him.

Not that Phillips cannot cope – if anything, he enjoys the pressure of the striker’s role, it’s just that McLeish is keen for Blues to boost their goal threat from other sources. Garry O’Connor was in fine form before suffering a groin problem in October that now looks likely to sideline him for several more weeks.

So Marcus Bent and Cameron Jerome were tasked with supporting Blues’ primary marksman Phillips, and James McFadden and the wide players were expected to chip in as well.

Bent and Jerome have scored a couple of goals apiece in the past month but McLeish wants more.

“Kevin was unlucky with that chance at Preston, he did everything right and headed it down,” said McLeish. “It was just one of those things that the goalkeeper stopped it, between his legs.

“But Kevin has scored 10 goals for us, we need the other strikers scoring more.

‘‘Not so much to ease the burden on Kevin, because he loves that, but others must contribute if we are to be a massive, serious threat in the second half of the season.”

For Saturday’s visit of Reading in a key lunchtime fixture McLeish hopes to have McFadden back in the reckoning after a three-game absence due to a groin niggle.

Quincy stepped into the breach during McFadden’s unavailability, and has performed well.

But it still nags away at McLeish that he and his team mates are capable of shifting up another gear to be more of a goal worry.

“In the second half at Preston we were much more of a threat,” said McLeish. “Quincy was at last getting some pentration in the final third.

“We just didn’t quite get enough efforts and chances on the goalkeeper. Our corners and set-piece delivery was poor. We hit the first man three or four times.

“These things eat away at you, but I thought defensively we did quite well, apart from poor play from us right at the end, which cost the goal.”

McLeish is running the rule over attacker Robin Shroot, who impressed him on his Northern Ireland under-21 debut against Scotland last month.

The 20-year-old winger, who has scored eight goals in 11 matches for Ryman Premier Division side Harrow Borough this season, is training at Wast Hills this week.

He scored in a private reserve team friendly against Cheltenham Town at Blues’ training HQ yesterday.

Derby County, QPR, Coventry City and Wycombe Wanderers have been watching Shroot this season, and Charlton Athletic tried to take him on loan last week.

Likened to Darren Anderton, Shroot began his career at Wimbledon before their move to Milton Keynes. He then went to Staines and AFC Wimbledon before joining Harrow.

The winger is on non-contract terms at Harrow, who are managed by Barry Fry’s one-time Blues assistant David Howell.