James McFadden has two debts of honour to pay as Birmingham City set about regaining their pride today: to the supporters who felt humiliated by the defeat at Villa Park last weekend and to Alex McLeish, whose man-management skills make the striker determined to go the extra mile to help the club to retain their Barclays Premier League status.

On the same day last month that Xabi Alonso was omitted from the Liverpool squad to face Inter Milan in the Champions League because he wanted to be at the birth of his son, McFadden was given free reign to attend the arrival of Emily, his second child, before making his way to play against Portsmouth.

McFadden will be able to make nappy talk with Alonso today as the two sides meet at St Andrew's before attempting to extricate Birmingham from the relegation zone, a mission aided by the skills McLeish has had to show in abundance this week after the 5-1 defeat by Aston Villa on Sunday.

“The fact I attended the birth and then played shows what type of man the manager is,” McFadden, whom McLeish signed from Everton for £5.75million in January, said. “I don't know if any other manager would have done the same. He let me stay [with Gillian, his wife, and James, their son] and be there for the birth of my child and then he asked me to come down for the game at Portsmouth. He never told me or asked me to come down. He asked if I felt OK.

“It makes you want to go the extra mile. The way the manager showed the commitment to bring me here, I already had to pay him back. But when he does things like that it makes you realise what type of man he is and how much I do need to repay his faith in me. It was good because I was delighted to be there for the birth of my daughter. I was aware of what happened with Alonso as it was at the same time. But that's up to Rafa Benítez.”

As a former Everton player, McFadden says that he is not friendly with any of the Liverpool players - “Certainly not,” he joked - but he is conscious that all cross-city rivalries run deep. He has been “keeping his head down” this week, but not so that he can avoid crowing Villa fans, rather Birmingham supporters.

“I have been trying not to see any because the last thing they want to see is me swanning about,” the Scotland forward said. “We just need to make sure we put it right because the fans won't forget and it is going to be rubbed in their faces until we play Villa again. I have tried to get on with my life as usual but not bump into anyone who will give me criticism.

“It does hurt you a bit more than normal criticism. The fans are passionate and see things from a different perspective. We are on the pitch and trying hard. The fans are hurting and if they think we weren't trying enough, that's the way they see it, but we will have to make sure they don't think that again by working harder in the next game.

“You might say we are likely to be playing Liverpool reserves, but if their manager makes a few changes, he changes the team around every week, and they still have great quality. They have almost clinched fourth spot and have got their Champions League game [against Chelsea] to worry about, but we have got to make sure we do everything we can to win the game. This is our Champions League.”

McLeish bravely went to a fans' forum at a beer and Balti night on Thursday, when, the manager said, “some of the supporters were letting off a bit of steam”. He added: “No one likes losing a game, especially to your rivals and in that fashion, but in football you have to move on. We have got a very good record in bouncing back. We have to make sure we get back to the level we have been showing at St Andrew's, where only Chelsea have beaten us here since I arrived [in November]. We want the fans to support their team. They love this football club and the players can feed off their energy as we bid to stay in the Premier League. That would be a good achievement for this group of players.”