Blues close on midfielder deal

Birmingham say they are set to sign Nigel Quashie on a one-month loan deal from West Ham with a view to a permanent switch.

The midfielder has been training with Birmingham for the last few weeks and boss Alex McLeish says the player is on the verge of signing a short-term deal at St Andrews.

Quashie should be available for the Burnley game and if he impresses during his loan spell, something more permanent could be arranged.

"We would hope to tie Nigel up on a month's deal with a view to extending that, if he proves his fitness," McLeish told the Birmingham Mail.

"Probably before Burnley we will get it done. With the amount of games coming after that, he would be a welcome addition. He has trained hard for a month but his circumstances have been unfortunate as he lost his mother.

"So in between us keeping him and getting him fit, getting him to prove he is over his injuries because there is a tendency to come back and pick up niggles, it's been stop-start due to his mother being ill and her death.

"He's got things to tend there before he can immerse himself right back into it again and we are very sympathetic to his needs at the moment."