Blues get closer to Gardner deal

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish has confirmed his interest in Glasgow Rangers striker Kris Boyd and is close to striking a deal with Villa for Craig Gardner.

Blues go to Everton in the FA Cup fourth round tomorrow and McLeish is trying to add to his squad with Boyd a target.

Villa's reported interest in Boyd, who is out of contract in June, is wide of the mark but McLeish is considering a move.

He said: "I can't confirm we've made any offers for anyone, it's not fair to talk about players at other clubs, but he is out of contract in the summer and it's possible we could do something."

But a deal for Gardner is getting closer with an agreement nearly reached with Villa.

Despite having an initial £3million bid rejected for the midfielder, McLeish is confident of bringing him to St Andrew's.

The Blues boss said: "We're waiting for the go ahead from the bosses of the club to get the final sanction, but we're pretty close to a deal.

"Craig is a versatile player who can play in a number of positions and players like that are worth their weight in gold in terms of squad strength."

With Villa reaching the Carling Cup final this week Blues want a run in the FA Cup, but McLeish played down their chances of emulating their neighbours.

He said: "It's still not the priority, but we totally respect the FA Cup. It would be marvellous to think we can go to Goodison Park and win, but we'd be punching above our weight to emulate Villa.

"The expectation levels are perhaps going a wee bit beyond normal here. But there's nothing wrong with having the vision."