GARY Megson will go head to head with a his rival for the "Ginger Mourinho" tag at the Reebok.

The chant, which has become a familiar theme as Wanderers fans warm to their new boss, could soon be adopted by Birmingham City supporters, if Alex McLeish continues to lift the Blues.

The flame-haired former Scotland manager has already won admirers in the St Andrew's dressing room since replacing Steve Bruce, who quit to manage Wigan last month.

Finland striker, Mikael Forssell, has even gone as far as comparing him favourably with Jose Mourinho.

Forssell - once a Wanderers target - played under "The Special One" at Chelsea and sees striking similarities in their tactics and preparation for games.

"He worked a lot on the tactical side of the game," said the Blues striker, who scored in last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Reading. "He believed in working as a team when we defend and we looked at videos of how other teams play.

"That is what we are doing now under the new manager. We try to cover everything and tick all the boxes so when Saturday comes, it is up to us as players.

"He makes sure we have done everything we can."

Forssell also revealed that, under McLeish's guidance and armed with more information on their opponents, Birmingham have adopted a more proactive approach, which Wanderers should be wary of tomorrow.

"We used to go into games to keep it 0-0 and then, if we made a mistake, we had to chase the game," he said, recalling recent struggles under the Bruce regime.

"Now we seem to be seizing the initiative more and making the other team work."

Megson, who acknowledges the Ginger Mourinho nickname he picked up during his brief spell at Leicester, admits to knowing more about Birmingham than he does about his counterpart McLeish, but he recognises a good organiser when he sees one.

"He's come from international football and previously worked at a huge football club, as big as anything in England," the Wanderers boss said, acknowledging his rival's four-and-a-half years at Rangers before he became Scotland boss. "But the principles stay with you, regardless of what level you're at.

"If you get a team organised, working hard and get the quality of players in, you've got half a chance.

"He's got a decent record and it's gone really well for him. He's set off well at Birmingham and they'll be a big test for us. I used to work a few miles up the road and they were in tandem a lot of the time with what we were doing at West Brom, but they were always prepared to get the players in.

"They spent money in the summer and spent a lot last season getting up from the Championship. We'll have to approach the game well."