Garry O'Connor faces surgery to cure another bout of groin trouble, giving boss Alex McLeish a worry in attack, reports the Birmingham Mail. "We think he's got to have an operation at some stage on his hip before he plays again," confirmed McLeish.

"That's kind of the road we're going down so it's another absentee which isn't great in terms of our striking options.

"Of course we've got James McFadden who can play through the middle but we've got Marcus Bent out on loan at the moment, so I need to wrap these other lads in cotton wool."

"It's related to what he had last year," said McLeish. "He had an operation on part of the groin ligament in there because of wear and tear.

"I've not got the full technical details but the wear and tear has caused a little bit of bone growth or something calcified so he'll have to get it shaved because it's affecting his mobility in that area. In all likelihood the big 'un has got to go for an operation.

"We could be talking three or four months out."