Big Eck expects midfielder to stay

Alex McLeish is confident Bolton and Wigan target Fabrice Muamba will stay to help Birmingham City bounce back to the Premier League.

The St Andrew's boss is aware that the England Under-21 international wants to play top-flight football and that there are interested parties - including former Blues boss Steve Bruce at Wigan.

Bolton are also rumoured to be interested, but McLeish says Muamba is committed to getting the club back where they belong.

He told the Birmingham Mail: "Now we've got to react and make sure we're a force in The Championship and Fabrice comes into that category, along with the others in that we want him to help us have a crack at it and come back at the first time of asking.

"Fabrice is contracted until 2010 and I think he's very happy with things. I'm sure he would have liked negotiations put to bed quickly, but nothing has dimmed his enthusiasm.

"All season long he showed great energy and attitude. He played the way he trained, he gave wholehearted commitment, the application was tremendous and it was great to see him get a couple of Premier League goals too."