Birmingham City boss McLeish says that he is sad to lose McFadden due to injury. The Scotland international sustained anterior cruciate ligament damage to his left knee in training on Friday and is now set to undergo surgery.

McLeish will then discover how long he can expect to be without McFadden, although Birmingham have already admitted the forward will be missing for the ‘foreseeable future’.

The manager believes McFadden was in the best form of his Blues career before the setback and he concedes news of the injury was hard to take. “It is a shame because I felt James was coming back to his best. He was looking really bright in training. His fitness regime has been fantastic. He is eating the right things,” said McLeish.