Alex McLeish last night said he will not risk Birmingham City's long-term future by breaking the club's wage structure and paying excessive transfer fees during the January transfer window. McLeish has been told he has up to £40m at his disposal and is currently pursuing a number of high-profile targets but, in comments that should resonate at Fratton Park in particular, the Birmingham manager has vowed to spend responsibly.

McLeish did not name Portsmouth but he talked about avoiding the kind of scenario that has unfolded on the south coast, where the Premier League club have faced financial meltdown following an era of excessive spending. Managers, generally, are too busy thinking about today to worry about tomorrow but McLeish, who was training to be an accountant when he first joined Aberdeen as a player, offered a refreshing take on the need for fiscal prudence.

"The fans have to trust me. I'm going to do it for the good of Birmingham," said the Scot, who has stepped up his interest in Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones. "I want Birmingham to be around in the next 100 years. It's not a question in the next two or three years of the media writing about Birmingham's financial troubles and having a fire sale because there's too many players on too high wages and players we can't get rid of because we've paid too much for them. I'm responsible."

McLeish is fiercely ambitious and keen to strengthen Birmingham's squad to enable him to set objectives that stretch beyond Premier League survival but he is also aware of the need to protect the team spirit that has developed within the current group of players. He sees retaining a wage structure as one way of doing that and, although Birmingham are understood to be prepared to pay Jones around £55,000 a week, McLeish would not countenance meeting the demands of Kevin Kuranyi.

"I know that the players would appreciate some help and some back-up," said the Birmingham manager who last night completed the midfielder Michel's transfer from Sporting Gijón subject to a medical. "But I do want to maintain that spirit and the harmony in the dressing room and I think any player coming in would recognise the harmony and want to be a part of that. Everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet and we've got fantastic camaraderie throughout the club."

McLeish also pointed out that he would not need to waste any time wondering how best to deal with any inflated egos, with the Birmingham manager confident his senior players are more than capable of policing the dressing room. "There's big-time experience in there and I know that they wouldn't allow a prima donna or Billy big-time to influence and take over the dressing room," he said.