Gardner dreaming of Wembley

Midfielder Craig Gardner is already dreaming of Wembley but insists his new club Birmingham must be at their best to beat Derby.

Blues go to Pride Park in the FA Cup fifth round aiming to hit back following their 2-0 defeat at West Ham on Wednesday.

Gardner, who made his full debut against the Hammers, insists Blues cannot blow their big chance to move closer to Wembley tomorrow.

The midfielder said: "It's a massive opportunity. There's a chance to get into the quarter finals and then Wembley's before you, with the semi-finals played there.

"Derby will be thinking the same but the lads can't wait to get out there. It's a huge game and if we win it and get a decent draw we could push on.

"But it's about how we play on Saturday and beating Derby. They're at home and have been playing well recently and I'd imagine the atmosphere is going to be unbelievable.

"We're taking a lot of fans and with me being a Blues supporter I know how big the game is and what is means to them."

Gardner, a £3.5million signing from Villa last month, is desperate to retain his starting spot after manager Alex McLeish shuffled his pack in midweek for the first time in 13 Premier League games.

But the midfielder backed McLeish's decision to keep the same line up for so long and says the boss was vindicated by results.

He said: "It's an easy thing to say after a defeat, when fingers are going to be pointing all over the shop, that players should have been rested before.

"Why should you mend something if it's not broken?"

Defender Scott Dann also underlined the determination to progress tomorrow and is eager to put the West Ham result right.

He said: "We've had a great unbeaten run and we've bounced back before, so we have to do it again. We never really got going in the second half. We had some chances in the first-half but we didn't take them.

"Otherwise it would have been different."