Dutch midfielder Kemy Agustien makes his Blues debut at St. Mary's Stadium tonight in the second round of the Carling Cup against Southampton (kick-off 7.45pm).

The 22-year-old (pictured) makes his first competitive appearance in the engine room alongside captain Lee Carsley. There's a place in the starting line-up for Gary McSheffrey after he impressed when coming on as a sub in the 2-0 win over Barnsley at the weekend.

Another player who had an absolute flyer in the victory over the Tykes and who is fast becoming a fans' favourite is Quincy, and he has justified his place in the first eleven for the match on the South Coast too.

Two of Blues' top performers - James McFadden and Seb Larsson - are rested for the cup tie but with Marcus Bent and Gary O'Connor leading the line for Alex McLeish it's clear the Blues manager has serious intent about and respect for the competition.

O'Connor has recovered from a dead leg picked up against Barnsley and another man who picked up a painful injury, Stuart Parnaby, has shrugged off a kick in the groin and is in the team also.

Another player making his first start of the season is defender Stephen Kelly. The Irishman, who more commonly plays at right-back, features in a centre-half position alongside Liam Ridgewell and Colin Doyle starts between the sticks instead of Maik Taylor.

Teenager Jordon Mutch - who will be the second youngest debutant in Birmingham's history (16 years, 268 days) behind Trevor Francis (16 years, 139 days) should he make an appearance - is on the bench alongside another Academy product, 19-year-old Germany U-19 international Semih Aydilek - who was handed a squad number just hours before the game.

As has been the case in the opening weeks of the 2008-09 campaign, Saints once again put out a team full of talented youngsters - a side no doubt buoyed by their 1-0 victory at Derby on Saturday. Former Blue Stern John is on the bench.

The full squads for the Carling Cup second round tie are as follows...

Saints: Bartosz Bialkowski, Lloyd James, Wayne Thomas, Jack Cork, Andrew Surman, Morgan Schneiderlin, Simon Gillett, Paul Wotton (c), Adam Lallana, Lee Holmes, David McGoldrick. Subs: Tommy Forecast, Stern John, Nathan Dyer, Oliver Lancashire, Joseph Mills, Jamie White, Bradley Wright-Phillips.

Blues: Colin Doyle, David Murphy, Stephen Kelly, Liam Ridgewell, Gary McSheffrey, Garry O'Connor, Kemy Agustien, Marcus Bent, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Stuart Parnaby, Lee Carsley (c). Subs: Maik Taylor, Martin Taylor, Kevin Phillips, Radhi Jaidi, Jordon Mutch, Franck Queudrue, Semih Aydilek.