Barry Ferguson to miss Blues' trip

Birmingham will take a gamble on the fitness of Barry Ferguson for their fight for Premier League survival - but the midfielder will miss the trip to Everton.

Ferguson broke his rib in Blues' Carling Cup final win over Arsenal 10 days ago, causing him to miss Saturday's West Midlands derby defeat to Albion and tonight's game at Goodison Park.

But the former Scotland international is to be rushed back by taking a painkilling injection injection later in the week which, if effective, could get him through a good portion of the following 10 Premier League games of the season.

In the meantime, Blues go to Merseyside without him and in the relegation places, but tonight is one of their two games in hand on their survival rivals and a win would see them climb out of the bottom three.

And McLeish is determined to make use of every bit of firepower available until the club's top-flight status is secure.

He said: "If we were in mid-table, like at this stage last season, we would definitely not play Barry. But he wants to play. He said he can't sit about, he just wants to play.

"He has volunteered to take the injection. I think it will happen later in the week to allow things to settle down.

"There's not much you can do in terms of strapping up ribs and things like that, but the injection kind of freezes that side of his rib cage and gives it protection.

"It's Barry's decision, definitely. He did something similar when he was at Rangers."

McLeish insists the triumph of winning the Carling Cup has already been consigned to memory, as Blues look to hold their nerve and climb out of the drop zone.

He said: "We know when you are down there, the pressure is going to intensify. We've got to deal with it. We've dealt with it quite well in the past.

"The players know the Carling Cup is gone. We watched some footage of it and they all said 'it's over, put the cup to bed'.

"They know they are in a battle."