McLeish vows to bring Blues back

Alex McLeish admitted taking Birmingham down was the lowest point of his career, but vowed to stay at the helm to help the club make an immediate return to the Barclays Premier League.

Birmingham were relegated to the npower Championship after a 2-1 loss at Tottenham. It was the second time that McLeish had gone down with Birmingham, but he said that this year's relegation was the worst moment in his 17-year managerial career.

"It's probably the worst moment of my career because I have been in charge of the team the whole year," McLeish said. "They're my lads. I picked them. I built the squad and it's a low for me in my career but it's not a fail. I will bounce back."

McLeish will meet with club owner Carson Yeung this week to discuss his future but the former Scotland manager insists he wants to remain in charge at St Andrew's.

"I have a good contract. As far as I'm aware I will be honouring that," McLeish said.

"I will chat with the owner during the week and we will see what the game plan is with everybody."

McLeish now finds himself in the bizarre situation of being in charge of a team who qualified to the Europa League but will be playing in England's second tier next year.

The Birmingham boss admits having to rely on other teams' results meant the nature of the club's relegation was hard to take.

"I was in a bit of trance with everything that was going on," McLeish said. "It's hard to describe the emotions."