Birmingham go into Sunday’s high-noon derby match with city arch-rivals Aston Villa on the back of two important victories.

A 2-0 success at home to in-form Blackpool was followed by qualification for the Carling (League) Cup quarter-finals, albeit a penalty shoot-out victory over League One opposition.

But fitness doubts remain over on-loan midfielder Alexander Hleb, who picked up a knee injury in last Saturday’s Blackpool game and had to be substituted with fifteen minutes remaining.

Goals from Liam Ridgewell and Nikola Zigic, the tall striker’s second goal in consecutive matches after a worryingly lean start to his Blues career, pushed Alex McLeish’s men back up to 12^th in the EPL.

But McLeish was left to rue his decision not to bring Hleb off earlier against the Tangerines.

The Blues supremo said: “He took a pain-killing injection in the morning in his ankle. So I said to him at half-time ‘give me 15 minutes of magic’ and we will get you off.

“It went a bit longer than that and all of a sudden he had a little twist in his knee which we are concerned about.”

Hleb was an enforced absence from an understrength Blues side which would have gone out of the Carling Cup but for a 92^nd-minute strike from veteran striker Kevin Phillips. Blues won the penalty shoot-out 4-3.

Meanwhile, Blues parent company Birmingham International Holdings has announced plans for a share issue for “general working capital and financial support to the operation of Birmingham City Football Club.”