O'Connor set for lone striker role

Benitez is back home in Ecuador after being given compassionate leave after his father was injured in a car crash. O'Connor is likely to play as the lone striker with Kevin Phillips on the bench. Blues boss Alex McLeish is optimistic that Stuart Parnaby, Franck Queudrue and James McFadden will be available after injury, while Cameron Jerome should return from an ankle problem after the international break. Blues (from): Hart, Taylor, Carr, Parnaby, Johnson, Dann, Vignal, Queudrue, Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, Fahey, McFadden, Carsley, Tainio, O'Connor, Ridgewell, Phillips, Espinoza, Johnson, O'Shea.