Gibson starts for United

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish made three changes for the home Barclays Premier League clash with second placed Manchester United.

Left-back Liam Ridgewell, winger Jean Beausejour and midfielder Craig Gardner replaced David Murphy, Keith Fahey and Nikola Zigic respectively.

McLeish opted to revert to a 4-5-1 formation with Cameron Jerome the lone striker in City’s first game since December 12.

United boss Alex Ferguson made one enforced change from the side which defeated Sunderland on St Stephen's Day.

Park Ji-Sung had departed to play for South Korea in the Asian Cup and was replaced by Republic of Ireland midfielder Darron Gibson.

Birmingham: Foster, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larsson, Ferguson, Gardner, Bowyer, Beausejour, Jerome.

Subs: Taylor, Phillips, Derbyshire, Fahey, Zigic, Hleb, Jiranek.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Gibson, Carrick, Anderson, Giggs, Berbatov, Rooney.

Subs: Kuszczak, Neville, Hernandez, Evans, Fletcher, Obertan, Macheda.

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)