Birmingham City FC

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• Manager:Alex McLeish

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City seal Derbyshire loan deal

17 Aug 2010 - 08:19:01

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Birmingham City have boosted their strikeforce with the signing of former Blackburn Rovers frontman Matt Derbyshire on a season-long loan from Olympiacos.

The 24-year-old former England Under-21 international moved to Greece in January 2009 and helped his club win the Greek Cup final at the end of the season.

However, last term he struggled to make an impact and has been allowed to return to England, with an option for a permanent deal also in place.

Derbyshire scored 20 goals in 86 appearances before leaving Rovers and has also been loaned out to Plymouth Argyle and Wrexham.

Meanwhile, Blues boss Alex McLeish is confident that another new signing, Nikola Zigic, will improve as time goes on, following a debut as a substitute in the 2-2 draw at Sunderland.

McLeish commented: "He was a presence and he will cause problems, but I'll be expecting a lot more from not only Zigic, but everybody.

"He's got an international pedigree but it's a new league for him. Playing in England is completely different to La Liga.

"The longer ball from the back in English football is something a little bit new for him and I'm going to have to do a wee bit of work on the training ground to help him improve in that respect."