McLeish has presided over Blues' longest top-flight unbeaten run since 1978

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish has paid tribute to the "almost superhuman" efforts of his team in their recent successful run.

McLeish has named the same starting eleven for six games in a row, from which Blues have taken 16 points.

McLeish told BBC WM: "They have almost been superhuman. The consistency of selection has helped us, the spirit that they've got is fantastic.

"We are having to make sure that we don't over-train them in this period."

McLeish has said throughout the season that his present squad lacks the necessary depth to sustain top for and is mindful of overworking the players, especially at this time of year.

"[We are making sure] that they get plenty of rest, mentally as well as physically. We have taken steps to try to help them this week to prepare for the Chelsea game.

"The biggest challenge now is keeping the players fresh. You could see in the Everton game, Everton were a bit sharper than us.

"They didn't have a midweek game and they had fresher legs. That was our third game in eight days.

"For me, I thought our concentration levels were down at the start. But again, they got the energy and power from somewhere.

"I've got to take my hat off to these players, whenever they've had to find a bit of resilience, they've got it in their lockers. I was proud of that.

"That was a magnificent point when I look at it from the point of view of their sharpness and fitness."

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