MCLEISH'S SQUAD BOOST

Friday 12 March 2010, 16:47
by Antonia De Feo @antoniadefeo

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish will welcome back Kevin Phillips and Lee Bowyer for Saturday’s encounter with Everton.

Injury ruled out the duo both missed Birmingham's 2-1 Premier League win at Portsmouth on Tuesday along with the rested trio of Sebastian Larsson, James McFadden and Stephen Carr.

But City boss McLeish says both players will be back in the squad to face Everton at the weekend.

"Kevin had a wee niggle on his hamstring which occurred when he came on at the weekend," said McLeish. "He was not quite ready for the midweek trip, but will be in the squad on Saturday.

"Bowyer was ill at the start of the week, but we welcome him back into the squad."

The Blues are undefeated in their last three visits to St Andrews with their last fixture at the midlands outfit ending in a 1-1 draw in April 2008 with the Blues’ goal coming from Joleon Lescott. And McLeish is expecting a tough test from the Toffees as both sides continue their quest for European qualification come the end of the season.

“Everton are still favourites to catch us in this particular campaign,” added McLeish. “We fancy ourselves at St Andrews but Everton are a great side and they were brilliant last week.

“They will be coming here showing a lot of confidence but we’ve got to show the same sort of spirit thart we’ve shown at St Andrews since day one this season and make sure Everton are going back up the road to Liverpool that was the last place we wanted to go.”

Former Everton man Lee Carsley will not feature in Saturday's showdown as he continues to recover from a long-term ankle injury.