Birmingham monitor Hleb

Alexander Hleb is Birmingham’s major injury concern ahead of Sunday’s Carling Cup final clash with his former club Arsenal at Wembley.

The on-loan Barcelona player suffered a knee injury during the FA Cup fifth-round victory over Sheffield Wednesday last weekend. A scan has shown severe bruising as opposed to any serious ligament damage and Blues will monitor his fitness.

Central defender Martin Jiranek is available after missing the 3-0 win against the Owls with a thigh injury.

Striker Cameron Jerome is also expected to recover from the ankle setback sustained during that game.

On-loan Tottenham winger David Bentley and January signing Curtis Davies are both cup-tied.

Provisional squad: Foster, Taylor, Carr, Parnaby, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell, Murphy, Larsson, Ferguson, Gardner, Bowyer, Fahey, Beausejour, Hleb, Mutch, Jerome, Zigic, Martins, Phillips, Derbyshire.