McLeish left to rue penalty call

Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish has said he had no doubt his side deserved a penalty before Maynor Figueroa hit a late winner in the 2-1 defeat at Wigan.

McLeish admitted his side were second best at the DW Stadium.

But the Scot felt the Blues could have earned at least a point having been denied a spot-kick when Antolin Alcaraz shoved Curtis Davies in the box.

“Alcaraz hasn’t looked at the ball, he just barged Curtis out of the game. It is clearly a penalty,” McLeish said.

And with the visitors still seething about referee Lee Probert’s failure to award a penalty, Wigan – who remain bottom of the Premier League despite the win – went up the other end and Figueroa crashed in an injury-time winner.

McLeish added: “On the balance of play, it was as poor as I’ve seen us playing. We didn’t deserve a win but we could have stolen it and that’s what happens in some games.

“Sometimes you win ugly and we could have got the three points despite not playing well. You need some of those performances during the season.

“I’m not going to berate the officials but having seen it again I’ve not seen anybody yet who does not think it was a penalty.”

The Blues were ahead within six minutes but an injury to Martin Jiranek seemed to disrupt their defence and Wigan were the better side from the moment they levelled through Tom Cleverley.

“We started the game really well but in the second half we never had any control at all,” McLeish admitted.

“I expected a bit more from one or two but when you don’t train for two or three weeks you can lose a little bit of an edge.”

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez praised his side’s ability to deal with the pressure of fighting for top-flight survival.

“I am extremely proud of the players,” Martinez added. “The importance of the game was huge and it affected us in the first 20 minutes. The anxiety was reflected in the play.

“I am proud of such a young group to be really composed on the ball. The first goal was a joy to watch and throughout the second half I felt were were the stronger side. We were on top of the game and we got the reward we deserved.

“It was a real test of character and we need to carry on with the same standards… today was more than the three points. It was perfect start for the last eight games of the season.”