Kapo suspended for Birmingham

Birmingham’s chief creative force Olivier Kapo will miss the trip to West Ham through suspension after picking up his fifth booking of the campaign against Sunderland 11 days ago.

The absence of the former Juventus player could give hope of a recall for Gary McSheffrey who has been axed from the starting line-up for the last three games.

City boss Alex McLeish has also to decide whether to make changes upfront after Birmingham have netted only three times in the last six games with Mikael Forssell and Cameron Jerome in contention for a recall.

McLeish will be boosted by the return of midfielder Mehdi Nafti and defender Rahi Jaidi from African Nations Cup duty with Tunisia but full-back Franck Queudrue is still side-lined with a hamstring injury.

Birmingham (from): Maik Taylor, Doyle, Kelly, Ridgewell, Martin Taylor, Schmitz, Jaidi, Murphy, Parnaby, Larsson, Muamba, Johnson, Nafti, McSheffrey, O’Connor, McFadden, Jerome, Forssell.