Blues sweat on Alexander Hleb for cup final
Wednesday 23rd February 2011, 11:26AM GMT.
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish will discover today if Alexander Hleb has been hit by a Carling Cup KO – but refused to rule him out of their Arsenal showdown.
The on-loan Barcelona star could make a shock comeback at Wembley in Sunday’s final just a week after McLeish feared his season was over with a knee injury.
Hleb was stretchered off in Saturday’s 3-0 FA Cup stroll over Sheffield Wednesday but saw a specialist in London yesterday.
McLeish is hopeful Hleb could return against his former club and admitted the damage isn’t as bad as first thought.
“He got a real clatter on the inside of his knee and we feared the worst but we’re not ruling him out at this moment. We’re just waiting on the expert opinion,” he said.
“The scans showed that he has heavy bruising.”
If he is fit, McLeish insisted the former Gunner will prove key — even if he can’t dish the dirt on the club who sold him to Barca for £11.2m in 2008.
“In terms of inside knowledge I don’t know if there’s much players can give you, they never really do give you much, but in terms of his ability he’s got a lot to give,” he said.
McLeish has also been boosted by the fitness of striker Cameron Jerome and defender Martin Jiranek.
Jerome only lasted until half time against Wednesday after ankle trouble while Jiranek has been struggling with a thigh problem.
“Cameron Jerome has not trained as yet but we believe will be Ok. Jiranek we believe will be OK too,” he added.
And McLeish is close to picking his Wembley team and insisted he will not be swayed.
He said: “I have to pick a team that’s not influenced by the media or influenced by ‘I like this player better than I like that player on a personal level’. It’s got to be picked fairly as I do every single week.”
UK Sport
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