Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish has confirmed he's chasing Aston Villa midfielder Craig Gardner.

An initial bid - believed to be around £3 million - was rejected by Villa but McLeish is optimistic a deal will be struck sooner rather than later.

McLeish said: "We are waiting for the go ahead from the bosses (at Birmingham) in terms of the final sanction but we are pretty close to a deal.

"Craig is a player who can perform in a number of positions and a player like that is worth his weight in gold in terms of squad strength."

McLeish refused to comment on whether he is still interested in signing Liverpool striker Ryan Babel, who has healed his rift with Reds boss Rafael Benitez.