Birmingham went ahead through Nikola Zigic after 33 minutes as once again the Gunners - who lost two straight league games before the international break - failed to make the most of their early possession. However, Samir Nasri levelled from the spot just before half-time, with Marouane Chamakh slotting home a well-taken second goal two minutes after the restart which proved enough for all three points. Wilshere then showed his immaturity with a reckless challenge on Zigic in the closing stages which earned him a straight red card and a three-match ban. Wenger had talked about the need to clamp down on such tackles in his programme notes, and accepted the 18-year-old could have little complaint. "He mistimed his tackled and got a red card, which he deserved," said the Arsenal manager. "Jack has acknowledged he deserved it, but he did not spend his whole game trying to kick people, he was one of the best players on the pitch. "It was more of frustration and did not want to hurt the player, but we do not complain about the red card." Wenger accepted Wilshere's rash actions will grab the headlines, but maintained the teenager was on the right path. "Wilshere is a complete player. He played defensively well, offensively well, and overall he had a very influential game," the Arsenal manager said. Wenger, though, understands better than most the need to keep on top of such incidents. He said: "We are the team who has the most fouls committed against them, and I encourage our players to play football. "We got a red card and deserved it. What can we do about it now? Nothing else. "Wilshere will be suspended for three games and will be punished. I have spoken with him about it already. He said he mistimed his tackle, touched Zigic on the ankle and deserved a red card." Wenger admitted the pressure of the last couple of results had weighed heavy on his team, so desperate to return to winning ways. "Victory was imperative," said the Arsenal manager. "We were backs to the wall in the championship, where we were in a position where we really had to win, and when we went 1-0 down, we made it even more difficult. "We played with nerves, and you could see our fluency was affected by the fact we had not won for two games. "We played a bit with the hand brake in the final third, especially when we were 2-1 up. "It was never comfortable today, you could see and feel that in the way we played." Birmingham manager Alex McLeish maintained Zigic was lucky to have escaped serious injury and feels this incident shows just how easy it is for mistimed challenges to end in disaster. "It was a bad tackle and if he does not get a red card for that, then we pack our bags and go home," McLeish said. "Zigic was lucky not to get a very badly damaged leg. We have had to put up with the Eduardo stuff for the last couple of years, and it is scandalous. "It was a mistimed tackle from Martin Taylor and caused terrible damage to Eduardo - but that tackle could have caused Zigic a lot of damage. "We know Jack Wilshere is not a dirty player, but it does show you players can mistime in this hurly-burly game in football. Everybody has to recognise that. It was a bad tackle and it was the correct decision." The Blues players were furious with the award of Arsenal's penalty, when Scott Dann clipped Marouane Chamakh's trailing leg and referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot. McLeish said: "From the dugout it looked a penalty, because Scott put his foot in and you are always vulnerable to that decision. "But when I saw the reaction of the players, I thought there was more to it, and the players insist Scott never touched him. "If people are going to dive, if that was the case allegedly with Chamakh, then it is difficult for the referees, but the players insist he never touched him." McLeish was happy to see Serbia striker Zigic get his first Premier League goal following a £6million summer move from Valencia. "He has struggled with the speed and aggression of the game in England, so it has been difficult for him," said McLeish. "Today was a much more improved performance and he scored a terrific goal. "We are looking more dangerous and know we need to kick off our season against Blackpool next week, but this game was good for the confidence." Wilshere later agreed with Wenger and McLeish, admitting he was deserving of his red card and had no complaints. "I just want to say that I mistimed the challenge on Zigic and accept that I deserved to be sent off," he told the Arsenal website. "I have no complaints about getting the red card and I will learn from this. I'm missing three matches now which I'm really disappointed about, but I just want to say that I deserved the red card."
