Team news

Birmingham preview
Birmingham will be without suspended skipper Stephen Carr for the home Barclays Premier League clash with Burnley.

Carr has been handed a one-game ban by the Football Association after admitting a charge of improper conduct relating to gestures made to Aston Villa fans after last weekend's derby.

Stuart Parnaby, who has been dogged by injury problems this season, looks set to replace the right-back.

Central defender Scott Dann is again side-lined with a calf strain and Liam Ridgewell will again deputise after moving from left-back for the Villa game.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish has challenged his side to protect their eight-month unbeaten home record.

And he believes the Blues fans have played a massive part in transforming St Andrew's into a fortress during the current campaign by recreating the intimidating atmosphere of the Steve Bruce era.

City's only two reversals in front of their own fans this season came against Aston Villa and Bolton in successive matches during September.

Since then they have not tasted defeat in 14 home games and managed to share the spoils with the 'big four' of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

McLeish said: "The players can take a lot of pride from being unbeaten at home for so long and that will be our mission for the Burnley game - to win in front of our fans who have been magnificent this season.

"The crowd have been really back to form and regained the reputation they've had over the years of it being a difficult place to come.

"It can be hellish at times. The crowd here can make the opposition apprehensive and give the home players energy, and they have done that this season."

Burnley preview
Burnley midfielder Chris McCann could make a surprise return to the squad after a season blighted by knee injuries.

It was feared McCann might miss the remainder of the campaign but he returned for a 45-minute run-out with the reserves.

Manager Brian Laws will monitor McCann's fitness but will be without Clarke Carlisle, who has damaged his ankle.

Ahead of the game, Steven Fletcher admits he is in no hurry to leave Burnley even though the club are returning to the second tier after one season in the Barclays Premier League.

However the Scotland striker, who arrived from Hibernian in the summer, accepts the matter might be out of his hands.

Bolton manager Owen Coyle, who brought Fletcher to Turf Moor, has been linked with a move for the 23-year-old in the summer.

Speaking ahead of the match against Birmingham, Fletcher said: "If the club want to sell me, they want to sell me. But I am happy to stay on. I have three years left on my contract.

"We have always been a close team. I noticed that as soon as I arrived. We can only get stronger as we go on.

"Everyone is a bit downhearted as we wanted to stay in the league.

Birmingham vs Burnley

Last modified 20:43 01/05/10

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Birthday boy Christian Benitez got his first home goal – but may never receive the present he really wanted from Birmingham City.

The Ecuadorian striker, 24 yesterday, celebrated with wild enthusiasm after heading home just before the break to confirm his place as a favourite with the St Andrew’s fans.

Some 44 per cent of them elected the striker nicknamed Chucho as their man of the match, but he probably won’t get the single vote he most needs – from manager Alex McLeish – to turn his loan deal into a permanent move to the Premier League.

Birmingham have got to decide by May 25 whether to pay the $10m they agreed to give Mexican club Santos Laguna if they wanted him to stay – and just three League goals suggests the answer will be ‘no’.

McLeish admitted: “We will cross that bridge when we get to it. He has done very well, but we have to consider how to move forward.

“In theory, the contract is non-negotiable on that fee, but you never know. There have been loads of deals done that became negotiable.”

But the reality of the decision was summed up by Birmingham legend Trevor Francis, who said: “I wouldn’t sign him. He got himself a goal, but there should have been a lot more.

“Too often when he has chances, the ball ends up hitting defenders’ legs and that is not a sign of a top finisher.”

Chucho’s point-blank header into an empty net after Roger Johnson met a James McFadden free-kick took the Blues to an amazing 50 points and kept them in ninth place.

It gave them a safety margin after Burnley keeper Brian Jensen had deflected Cameron Jerome’s scrambled effort into his own net after 29 minutes.

Burnley tried to make amends after the break as top scorer Steven Fletcher smacked a shot over the bar from 25 yards and then Fletcher again tested Joe Hart with a fierce drive.

But substitute Steven Thompson’s goal – a clipped effort into the corner of the net three minutes from time – came too late for the Clarets to make an impact on the game.

It was typical of the standards McLeish sets that after his players had finished giving the fans a lap of honour, he gave them a rollicking in the dressing room for letting their standards slip. “I don’t think they will be too unhappy at me hitting them for that,” said the Scot. “They know the standards we have set.

“We’ve given some mature and capable performances and, in parts we were very, very good.”

The shame of Thompson’s late goal was that it cost Hart the chance to mark his final match on loan from Manchester City with what would have been his 13th clean sheet of 40 matches.

The youngster has been outstanding, not only with his saves but in how he has bossed the back four ahead of him.

“I don’t think he’d be phased about giving a rollicking to the likes of John Terry or Rio Ferdinand if he did play in the World Cup,” said McLeish.

“That competition might be coming too soon for him, but he will be an England regular eventually.”

It wasn’t hard to see why Burnley might end up nicking a place in the Europa League thanks to the fair play rankings – they hardly made a tackle.

And boss Brian Laws came out with one of the game’s great quotes: “If you take the goals out of the game – and you can do – we had the lion’s share of it.”

Sadly, Brian, you can’t take the goals out of it.

If you could, Burnley would have 38 points and a goal difference of nought instead of the sorry total of 27 points and minus 42.

And Laws also defended his side’s right to play in next year’s Europa League if Fulham triumph in this year’s competition – despite the Clarets’ 17th away defeat of the season.

Laws said: “If it’s the rules, why shouldn’t we qualify? We try to play the game in the right manner and that is what this is meant to encourage.”