McLeish has tried to put a brave face on the defeat by Aston Villa

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish was stunned by Sunday's 5-1 defeat at Aston Villa but believes his side can still avoid relegation.

Blues are 18th in the Premier League, a point behind Reading and Bolton, who are in the safety zone, and their next opponents are fourth-placed Liverpool.

But McLeish said: "We knew it would come down to the last three games.

"We have made ourselves difficult to beat at St Andrews and that is what we need to do now against Liverpool."

Birmingham face Rafael Benitez's Champions League-chasing side on Saturday and then visit fellow strugglers Fulham, who are four points behind the Blues, on 3 May and play host to Blackburn on 11 May.

Villa completely outclassed Birmingham at the weekend and McLeish said it was "the worst derby defeat I have had as a manager".

606: DEBATE I'm glad in a way that we got mullered by Villa - perhaps it will focus the players to beat the odds now SuperLeague

But the Scot believes his side can shake off the embarrassment of the thrashing and he vowed they would fight until the very end to stay in the top flight.

"What has been evident in this team is that we are capable of bouncing back and we can do it again," he added.

"I always thought it would come down to the last three games and nothing has changed.

"I am sure our fans will be embarrassed by the defeat by Villa - I don't like it, the players don't like it. We were on the end of a bruising from a really good Villa side.

"We need the fans to stay with us starting next week against Liverpool at St Andrews, where we have done very well.

"We will see what kind of reaction we get."