Championship: Birmingham 1-0 QPR

Kevin Phillips has admitted time is running out on his career.

At35,he finds himself having to confront the dreaded Rword.

But it's not retirement he fears, it's Alex McLeish's rotation policy.

The Birmingham boss is chopping and changing his strikers around this season to "keep them on their toes."

The jury is still out on whether McLeish's system is working-the Blues have crept to the top of the Championship but have scored a miserly 13 goals in 10 games - and when Phillips talks about it he uses a different word...frustration.

The striker who turned his back on a return to the Premier League by rejecting a new deal at West Brom last summer has started just four league games.

He's bagged four goals, including Saturday's winner against Rangers, to prove he hasn't lost his goal scoring knack, but is not happy when he's a victim of the manager's rotation.

He said: "I've got my own views on that, and I don't really want to comment. I want to start as many games as I can, so all I can do is prove myself and make it difficult for the manager to leave me out.

"I know I'm going to bealong time retired so I've got to get as much out of what's left as I can."

Phillips, previously promoted with Sunderland and West Brom, has his eyes on a hattrick.

He added: "People raised their eyebrows when I rejected anew deal at Albion. They said I was turning down the chance to play in the Premier League again. But I believe I will get another crack at it."

McLeish, who relegated both James McFadden and Cameron Jerome to the substitutes bench to bring in Phillips and Garry O'Connor, reckons his system is working.

He said: "With five strikers here I need to keep them on their toes. The fact we can rotate means we can maintain our edge with those guys."

Rangers boss Iain Dowie admitted he was envious of the £12million worth of signings his rival had on the bench.

Despite QPR's tag as the Championship's richest club, Dowie has had little to spend, but said: "I don't need to shout that out. Anyone with an incisive view of the game knows we haven't spent much.

"The people running this club are successful businessmen, wealthy men, and the expectation that comes with that is high. I'm disappointed with the points return recently, but we have some young talent and will be a force this year."

Birmingham: Taylor 6, Parnaby 6, Jaidi 6, Ridgewell 6d, Murphy 7, Larsson 7, Carsley 6 (Nafti 50, 6), Agustien 6, Quincy 6 (McFadden 75), Phillips 7 (Jerome 80), O'Connor 8. GOAL: Phillips 45 QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 6 (Connolly 87), Hall 6, Stewart 6, Delaney 6, Rowlands 7 (Ledesma 80), Leigertwood 6d, Mahon 6 (Buzsaky 68), Cook 7, Blackstock 6, Agyemang 5.

Referee: Andy D'Urso ATTENDANCE: 18,498

COMPUTER

BIRMINGHAM

QPR

BLUES IN THE DRIVING SEAT

BALL POSSESSION

BIRMINGHAM 53%

QPR 47%

FACE TO FACE

7 Corners 4

3 Offside 2

11 Fouls 16

1 Cards 1

SHOTS

3 off target 4

5 on target 1

MAN OF THE MATCH

Garry O'Connor (BIRMINGHAM)

8 Worked really hard in attack

VILLAIN OF THE MATCH

Patrick Agyemang (QPR)

5 Hardly had a kick and very disappointing

ANORAK

Kevin Phillips has now scored six goals in his last seven games against QPR

NEXT THREE GAMES

BIRMINGHAM

Sat Oct 18: Burnley (a) Champ

Tue Oct 21: Palace (h) Champ

Sat Oct 25: Sheff Wed (h) Champ

QPR

Sat Oct 18: Forest (h) Champ

Tue Oct 21: Swansea (a) Champ

Sat Oct 25: Reading (a) Champ