Ben Foster backing Blues in Asia

Birmingham's new goalkeeper Ben Foster has tipped the club to make it big in the Far East after the squad toured Hong Kong and China.

Blues' pre-season preparations took them overseas at the behest of Hong Kong-born owner Carson Yeung, who is looking for the Premier League outfit to tap into foreign markets and become a global brand.

The team are now back in England after winning games in Beijing, Hong Kong and the Olympic Stadium in Shenyang, but efforts to raise the club's profile around the world are expected to be ongoing.

Foster was at Manchester United, who have been proactive in marketing themselves in Asia for years, before leaving in a £6million deal this summer and believes his new employers can follow his former club's lead.

He said: "You see the passion the fans have got out there, it's incredible but it's nice.

"It's going to take a while for Birmingham City to be big in China and they've got to work at it but they've already started.

"A couple of years ago nobody over here would have even heard of them but, in the short space of time since the new owner took over, they've totally changed it around.

"We had great crowds for all our matches, especially in the Bird's Nest in Beijing. We had 50,000 to 60,000 and that's some turnaround from a couple of years ago.

"It's a big change already."