Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish believes his side lacks the firepower needed to secure European football for next season.

Blues' victory over Portsmouth on Tuesday night lifts them up to eighth in the standings, with sixth or seventh spot likely to earn them a Europa League berth.

Despite a stoppage-time header from Pompey substitute Kanu, a first-half brace from Blues striker Cameron Jerome was enough to give his side revenge for their FA Cup loss on the same ground last Saturday.

Jerome and Christian Benitez, who created both goals, performed impressively up front, but McLeish is not convinced his men will find the goals needed to secure seventh.

Asked whether it was a realistic target, the Scot said: "I don't think so - I don't think it's realistic. To get places in Europe, you need a striker scoring 15, 16 goals.

"We'll always be under pressure to get that spot because our strikers won't, unless they go on an unbelievable scoring burst.

"You'll perennially see that the teams who get there have a striker who is up 16 or 17 goals and another one not too far behind."

McLeish's men are comfortably the lowest scorers in the top half of the Premier League, having netted 28 times this term.

Jerome has scored seven while Benitez has just three, but McLeish admits his strikers may have been distracted by their defensive duties.

He said: "We've been a team which has defended well from the front this season.

"Perhaps we have asked more from our strikers from a defensive point of view than other clubs. That's possibly why our strikers have not scored more goals."