Alex McLeish

Alex McLeish has indicated that he is looking to freshen up his squad for tomorrow night's game against Portsmouth.

Blues travel down to Fratton Park for a Barclays Premier League game against Pompey, just three days after their FA Cup defeat at the hands of Avram Grant's side.

With Blues' league status all but assured, McLeish is expected to give his fringe players the opportunity to prove themselves.

"We don't have injuries but maybe there's a bit of tiredness and that's understandable after such a long spell of players playing week in week out," admitted McLeish.

"Maybe it's now appropriate for me to utilise the squad.

"There are a lot of guys who have been kicking their heels and I've told them they've just got to be patient and now there's an opportunity to perhaps play one or two.

"It's about using the squad and seeing what the other guys can do.

"It's appropriate that one or two get rested because you can't flog people.

"We've got some players in the team over 30 and they have been fantastic during the good run, but sometimes people get a little bit mentally tired as well and it won't do any harm to rest one or two."

Michel is expected to start his first game for Blues

One player who could well come into contention for his first start for Blues is Michel.

Since joining the club in January, the Spanish midfielder has been restricted to five substitute appearances.

"We have to have a look and see what he can do," added McLeish.

"There's no doubt he can handle the ball.

"We brought him in here, but the form of Bowyer and Ferguson was excellent.

"The momentum we had with these two guys was such that we wanted to get to certain position before we started looking at other players and we've achieved that.

"But we don't want to stop picking up points and there's a responsibility on Michel and others to come into the team and keep the rhythm going."