Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish cut a contented figure, even though he had just watched his team concede an injury-time winner to leave St James' Park empty-handed.

Much as they did six days earlier against Tottenham Hotspur in his first game in charge, McLeish's side put in a resolute and, at times, controlled performance against Newcastle and looked to be heading for a deserved draw.

But failure to mark Habib Beye at Emre's right wing corner saw the right back divert the ball into Blues' net thus landing exactly the sort of sucker punch that Blues inflicted on their hosts at White Hart Lane.

Nevertheless, the former Scotland boss was keen to focus on the positives of his first two matches in charge, as he begins his preparation for his opening home game, against Reading on Saturday.

"It's good that we can get back on to the training ground on Monday," he said. "The players will be disappointed.

"No footballer is happy after a defeat, they'll be gutted but it's about getting back on the training ground on Monday with a spring in their step for the game against St Andrew's next week.

"There were a lot of positives. We have taken three points out of six and it should have been four in the end.

"OK, Newcastle have had the territorial advantage and a couple of chances in the first half but, in the second half, I thought they had run out of ideas - and then you get Emre doing something like that.

"We were capable of giving them a good game and we did. They got a massive lift from Wednesday's game against Arsenal [a 1-1 draw]. We knew they would come at us with all guns blazing but we actually started very brightly and although Newcastle finished the first half on top, in the second half I thought we were comfortable."

He also praised the performance of Blues' goal-scorer Cameron Jerome, who grabbed his fifth Premier League goal of the season with a classy one-on-one finish with Shay Given.

Jerome was a persistent threat to the hosts' defence and even the in-form Steven Taylor seemed uncomfortable dealing with the youngster's pace.

According to McLeish, there's even better to come. "We can help him improve his technique, taking the ball in and being a really good link up there, as well just being a runner in behind," the Scotsman said.

"He is still a young man, there is definitely a lot of potential for him to improve even further.

"We have worked with a lot of young players in my jobs with Motherwell, Hibs and Rangers and a lot of them have come through the system with us."