Birmingham boss Alex McLeish admits his side have to show "more toughness" in defence if they are to scramble out of relegation trouble.Blues have paid the penalty for being caught out by set plays and crosses too often since McLeish took charge just under three months ago.
Good work at the back during the majority of games has been undone by momentary lapses of concentration which have proved costly against the likes of Reading, Newcastle, Derby and West Ham.
Now the back four will have to be at their very best for 90 minutes if they are to have a chance of containing the threat of Premier League leaders Arsenal in Saturday lunchtime's home clash.
McLeish said: "Overall, I thought the defenders did well against West Ham in our last game and showed some more steel than of late.
"We do need to demonstrate more toughness at the back. We can be a bit soft sometimes as the goal we conceded against West Ham proved.
"There is no doubt that Carlton Cole was a huge presence in that game but we had to be putting in a better challenge than the one we did for their goal.
"It was an absolute free header and Cole flicks it on and, of course, Freddy Ljungberg is running in untracked.
"You say 'who's not tracked him?' and then you'll get players saying 'I thought the goalkeeper was coming.' You think this, you think that but we just need to be more decisive in those situations."
McLeish admitted: "Things like that have cost us and I also think it's a lot to do with the fact we're a very young side. It's a very young squad that we have, Muamba is 19, Ridgewell is 23, McFadden is 24, Larsson is 22 and four or five others are not over the 25 mark.
"We've got good young legs but just a wee bit of nous, a little bit of know-how and a wee bit of steel will make us a much better team.
"The good thing is they will get much better and we're still in with a great shout of staying in this League."
McLeish is aware of the need for Blues to start making St Andrews a fortress and repeat the kind of results which saw them win at Tottenham and draw at Arsenal and West Ham.
He said: "A point away from home is always a bonus. We haven't taken care of the games at home. They have been a bit of a rollercoaster.
"The last home game against Derby was not a 'must-win' but it was a 'should-win.' We have got to be respectful of everybody but make sure we take points. That is why we are where we are in the table.
"It was a great point at West Ham. We have also taken points from Arsenal and Tottenham and we can again. We are seeing what we can do to save our Premier League status."
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