Blues told to wait on goalkeeper Hart

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has been told to wait and see in the summer by Manchester City on their chances of keeping Joe Hart on loan for a second season.

Goalkeeper Hart has been in outstanding form since his temporary switch from Eastlands and emerged as a strong contender to be part of England's World Cup squad.

McLeish is keen to retain his services for another 12 months and ideally would like to get approval from City manager Roberto Mancini sooner rather than later.

But the Blues boss has been told to hold fire until the summer, so is keeping tabs on Notts County's £2m-rated stopper and Hart's former City team-mate Kasper Schmeichel as a back-up plan.

He said: "City are not going to make any decisions regarding Joe until the summer.They have confirmed that to us now. We would like to sign Joe for another season. The goalkeeping role is massively important and that's why I'd like to get City's nod of approval.

"That would help us in terms of us knowing what we are doing but there will be no news until the summer."

McLeish is full of praise for the way Hart has adjusted to life at St Andrew's, after the arrival of Shay Given at Eastlands saw him lost his first-team spot.

The manager said: "A top-class keeper can save you 10 points every season and Joe has certainly done that already.

"I believe he has done enough to go to the World Cup but it is down to Fabio Capello."