Blues boss Alex McLeish has welcomed the arrival of new goalkeeper Ben Foster and predicted he can have the same impact at the club as Joe Hart.
Ben signs on the dotted line
Ben Foster

27-year-old England-international Foster joined Blues today from Manchester United on a three-year-deal for an undisclosed fee.

"It looks as if we've got another great acquisition with Ben Foster," Alex McLeish told bcfc.com.

"The goalkeeper is a massive position and we've now signed another young hungry goalkeeper who wants to prove himself and live up to his potential.

"We believe he is of the same kind of standard as Joe Hart."

The Leamington Spa born-keeper's Old Trafford career was held back because of the form of veteran Dutch keeper Edwin van der Saar, hence his decision to leave the Premier League runners-up and join Blues.

"Ben's situation is similar to Joe's in that he found himself twiddling his thumbs behind another top keeper in van der Saar," explained McLeish.

Blues boss McLeish watches his side at the Reebok Stadium
Alex McLeish
"Van der Saar is a world class player and a hard act to follow.

"I've watched Van der Saar since he started at Ajax and he was always destined to play at the top and for as long as he has.

"Goalkeepers can go on for ever so that one was a losing battle for Ben.

"Ben is ambitious and wants to play regular football and naturally doesn't want to play second fiddle."

Work on bringing Foster to St. Andrew's began some time ago after Blues realised there was no guarantee that Manchester City would allow Joe Hart to remain in Birmingham for a second season.

One man who was instrumental in identifying Foster as suitable replacement for him was Blues' goalkeeping coach Dave Watson.

Dave Watson
Blues goalkeeping coach Dave Watson
"We were looking at it even when Joe was here in the event that we wouldn't be caught short and to steal a march on other potential suitors," said McLeish.

"There were another 10 or 12 foreign goalkeepers we looked at but didn't know enough about then and we didn't want to take a risk.

"But Dave Watson is a guy I trust and have given responsibility to and he did his homework on Ben.

"He knows everything about him, although ultimately it's my decision to choose the players and the goalkeeper

"With the due diligence we've done together we know that he's a very capable player."

"We think he can make a name for himself and it's up to him to do what Big Joe did."