Blues boss ready to start Chucho
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is ready to unleash Christian Benitez on Hull and hand his record signing his first Premier League start.
The Ecuador striker has only a Carling Cup appearance from the off to show so far, after initially being hampered by the after-effects of a shoulder operation since singing from Mexican outfit Santos Laguna for £9million in the summer.
Benitez has been restricted to cameos from the bench with some impact, such as drawing a wonderful one-handed save out of Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster on the opening day and irking Villa's nerves as a late sub last Sunday.
A Second City derby start had been a possibility but the player only arrived back in England on the Friday from international duty, somewhat jet-lagged after a rough flight across the Atlantic.
Now with a week to recover under his belt, Blues boss Alex McLeish feels he could be pushed into a 90-minute run-out tomorrow at the KC Stadium.
And not only does McLeish feel 'Chucho' is ready to fly, the manager feels he could even shoulder the whole attacking burden.
He said: "I know that pretty soon I'm going to have to get 'Chucho' into the team right from the beginning and I know he's raring to go.
"He looks as if he knows the game up there and he's looking reasonably threatening. There is a bigger role for him to come there's no doubt about it.
"It's about letting him go, but I have to look at the bigger picture. He has played up on his own before himself, so it's something we're considering.
"'He's definitely chomping at the bit and I don't want to end up with the wee fella being frustrated."
