Ridgewell and Larsson set to stay

Birmingham have set the ball rolling to keep Liam Ridgewell and Sebastian Larsson at St Andrew's by taking up the contract options on the pair.

Both players contracts expire in the summer and but the club have options in their favour on the duo, in Ridgewell's case for two years while with one for Larsson.

Ridgewell this week expressed his desire to stay with Blues while Larsson's agent Per Jonsson voiced his client's claim even more vociferously, commenting that the lack of a new offer was "strange" and "unacceptable."

Now the club have taken action by opening negotiations with the pair over revised deals, which is likely to continue well into the summer.

Chief executive Michael Dunford said: "As they say, to tango it takes two parties. So we are protected, those players are contracted to us next season - and beyond in the case of Liam Ridgewell.

"It's part of everyday life in football."