Dutch defender Fabian Wilnis is confident he'll be OK to take his place at right-back when the Blues face Birmingham at St Andrew's on Saturday. The 36-year-old felt the effects of his recent thigh injury during the second half of last night's 2-1 victory over Coventry and was substituted.

Wilnis told the club site: "I could feel the thigh tightening up and felt that it might go if I carried on.

"I wanted to stay on, but I've experienced these situations before and the sensible thing to do is to come off, especially as we had options with Bam Bam and Sito on the bench.

"We have a day's rest now and hopefully I will be fine for the weekend because it's a big match for us against the leaders, Birmingham."

The likelihood of Wilnis being available is good news for the Blues with Alex Bruce unavailable for the next two games due to the terms of the deal agreed with Birmingham when he signed in the summer and then a one-match ban for reaching five bookings.

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