Upson in fitness race

Birmingham centre-back Matthew Upson is to have an injection in his troublesome groin in the hope he will be fit for Saturday’s relegation battle with West Brom at St Andrews.

Upson has been sidelined since he limped out of the 2-0 home defeat at the hands of his former club Arsenal in early February.

Blues manager Steve Bruce has admitted to being concerned at the time it is taking Upson to recover from what was thought to be only a minor problem.

He said: “Matty has been out now for the best part of a month. What we thought was going to be 14-21 days, the time span with a normal groin injury, is dragging on a bit.

“He is going to have an injection and we are hoping he is going to be fit for West Brom. To have him back would obviously be a big boost.”

Upson’s long-time central defensive partner Kenny Cunningham is also battling to overcome a groin injury in time to face Bryan Robson’s side after missing six of the last seven games.

And January transfer window signing Martin Latka is optimistic of being available for selection after having stitches inserted into a gashed shin against Sunderland which ruled him out of the weekend trip to Middlesbrough.

But midfielder Muzzy Izzet is facing another two weeks on the sidelines after breaking down with his calf problem against the Black Cats.

Bruce and Baggies boss Bryan Robson are long-time friends stretching back to their days as Manchester United team-mates and they have remained in close contact.

But Bruce admitted: “We don’t say good luck to each other anymore. We are both big boys. We both understand the situation that we are in.

“Robbo did a fantastic job last year to keep West Brom in the division. He’ll be pulling out all the stops again – just as we are doing.”