Blues will offer injured McFadden a new deal

Alex McLeish is set to offer a new three-year deal to James McFadden – even though the ­Scotland star won’t play again for at least four months.

McFadden, 27, and in the last year of the deal he signed when moving from Celtic, feared for his future after ­rupturing the cruciate ligaments in his left knee in a training accident last month.

But McLeish will open talks and said: “We would be crazy not to make sure that a player of the quality of James is tied down to us.

“We’ve no doubt that he will return to the sort of great form he’s ­already showed once he is fit again – and his recovery has been going really well.

“In fact, we’ve had to slow him down because he’s been training too hard since starting his rehab work.”