McLeish has won 19 trophies as a player and manager in Scotland but is eager to lift his first silverware south of the border against the Gunners. He makes no secret of his ambitions to succeed in the game but hopes they can be realised at St Andrew's. He said: "I'm as ambitious as the next man and you keep doing your best. "If it means a player is doing really well, and someone is interested in him, then I'm happy for that to happen. "It's the same for me as a manager, the same for my staff. If one of my staff excels, the sports science guy or someone, then another big club might take him. "I don't stand in the way of people's progress. I'd like to progress but I'd like to do that with Birmingham. "I'd like us to find a niche in this league for the next few years but also win our first trophy for a long time. "Arsenal haven't won a trophy for six years but we haven't had won one for 48 years." McLeish has spoken with his mentor Sir Alex Ferguson - his manager at Aberdeen - during the build-up to the Wembley final. He said: "Managers learn as they go along as well. You learn with every game. Sir Alex Ferguson was a young manager at Aberdeen and he knew he was in charge of his own destiny. "I think he would learn through older players, in other words I'm saying he learnt it all from us. We taught him all he knows! "In all seriousness, he's a mentor. I don't ring him up every week for tactics asking 'what should I do here?' "But we're on the phone sometimes because managers get some free time mid-afternoon and you phone up your pals. We've spoken this week." Blues winger Sebastian Larsson believes his former club Arsenal are "ready to start winning major trophies again." The Swedish international is full of admiration for the way Arsenal Wenger has continued to play the game despite a failure to lift any silverware since 2005. But Larsson also feels Arsenal now have that toughness about their game alongside their silky skills. He said: "Arsenal are not the type of team you can kick off the park anymore. "They are very physically strong now and you can forget about just playing that tactic. "They have shown they have an extra hardness this season so that is not the approach we will take. "We will try to be very solid against them but we are not going to go out there and just try and kick them. I don't think that is going to work." Another former Arsenal player, Alexander Hleb, remains Birmingham's biggest injury doubt with the knee problem suffered against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup last weekend. With on-loan Tottenham winger David Bentley cup-tied, Lee Bowyer could earn a recall to the starting line-up.
