Birmingham manager Alex McLeish has played down the possibility of trying to sign Villa striker John Carew.

But he has “not closed the door” on LA Galaxy striker Edson Bubble, who has returned home after training with Blues for the past week.

Carew, Villa’s leading scorer for the past three seasons, has struggled to make an impression during the first half of the current campaign.

He was also involved in a public fall-out with manager Gerard Houllier.

But McLeish is cool on the idea of signing the Norway international, who is out of contract in the summer, should he be available in January.

He said: “I have always liked John Carew as a player and I tried to take him to Rangers. But he is not someone I have thought about.”

As regards Buddle, McLeish said: “He has gone back and we will keep the door open. We are not in the position to make any offers at the moment because we are looking to try and bring a more experienced player into the club.

“We’ve not closed the door. He did OK”

McLeish is aware of the need for Birmingham to strengthen and he believes the current financial climate will mean players being available.

He said: “We are looking at one or two situations and I am working closely with the board in trying to add to the squad. It is difficult to bring in players you don’t know because it does become a risky game in January.

“Prices are inflated as well but I do sense there will be players available because a lot of teams want to offload. I don’t know if there is massive debt in the game but I certainly feel a lot of clubs are feeling the pinch.”

Meanwhile, reserve winger Enric Valles is facing several months out of action with a stress fracture of his foot.

* Blues have set a new date for the Premier League clash at home to Newcastle, which was postponed last Saturday. The game will now be played on Tuesday, February 15 (7.45pm).

Tickets for the original date remain valid.

However, if both clubs are out of the FA Cup by the conclusion of the fourth round then the match is likely to be moved to Saturday, February 19, the date set aside for the FA Cup fifth round.