Two injury doubts for Birmingham

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish will check on the fitness of left-back Gregory Vignal and striker Cameron Jerome before finalising his side to face Stoke in Saturday’s home Barclays Premier League clash.

Vignal and Jerome suffered hip and ankle injuries respectively during the midweek victory over Portsmouth at St Andrews.

Stuart Parnaby is expected to replace Vignal if he is ruled out with record signing Christian Benitez a candidate to take over from Jerome should he fail to recover.

Midfielder Lee Bowyer returns to the squad after completing a three-match ban for his sending-off at Preston at the tail-end of last season.

Birmingham (from): Hart, Carr, Queudrue, Roger Johnson, Vignal, Larsson, Ferguson, Fahey, McFadden, Jerome, O’Connor, Maik Taylor, Phillips, Benitez, McSheffrey, Parnaby, O’Shea, Carsley, Bowyer, Damien Johnson.