Birmingham in talks with Robbie Keane

Birmingham will today hold talks with striker Robbie Keane after having a £6million bid for the former Wolves ace accepted by Tottenham.

Blues have reached agreement with Spurs to pay an initial £4m for 30-year-old Keane.

This could rise by an additional £2m with various add-ons and clauses in the deal for the Republic of Ireland international.

But boss Alex McLeish still has to convince Keane his long-term future lies at St Andrew's after the club were given permission to speak to the player. The much-travelled player, who began his career by scoring twice on his debut for Wolves as a 17-year-old, is keen to rebuild his career away from White Hart Lane.

Keane has been Tottenham's player of the year on three occasions and scored more than 100 goals for the club in two spells.

But he has slipped well down the pecking order under Harry Redknapp this season.

Sources close to Blues insist any potential deal for the player is still in its infancy. But McLeish is a known admirer of Keane and has continually stressed the need for Birmingham to sign a quality striker.

If Keane does move to St Andrew's, he will link up again with winger David Bentley, who has moved from Spurs on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

Keane scored 29 times for Wolves before a £6m move to Coventry. He has also gone on to play for Inter Milan, Leeds and Liverpool and had a loan spell atCeltic last season.

Meanwhile, McLeish has given Second City rivals Aston Villa the ultimate backing ahead of tomorrow's St Andrew's derby.

Villa could finish the weekend bottom of the Premier League. But McLeish is certain that of all the threatened clubs at the foot of the table, Villa are sure to get out of trouble.

He said: "People say it's a surprise to see Villa in the bottom three but it can happen to any team. Middlesbrough spent millions and millions years ago and got relegated.

"But Villa have got a lot of good players and I'm sure they won't be there at the end of the season."