Portsmouth v Birmingham City

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish is set to give a first start to January transfer window signing Michel in Tuesday evening's Barclays Premier League clash at Portsmouth.

McLeish confirmed Michael would be involved after indicating he will freshen up his side following City's 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Fratton Park on Saturday.

Michel has only had the occasional run-out as a substitute since moving to Blues from Sporting Gijon.

McLeish has no fresh injury worries and has set Birmingham a target of a minimum of 51 points by the end of the season after effectively securing top-flight status by reaching the 40-point mark.

Portsmouth will be without midfielders John Utaka and Hassan Yebda for the match.

Utaka has a tight groin following the FA Cup win over the Blues on Saturday, while Yebda is seeing a specialist about a persistent knee injury.

Aaron Mokoena is doubtful with a knee ligament problem and Kevin-Prince Boateng is still in Germany undergoing treatment on an ankle injury.

Defender Ricardo Rocha serves the second of a two-game ban after his red card against Burnley on February 27.

Birmingham team (from): Hart, Carr, Dann, Johnson, Ridgewell, Larsson, Bowyer, Ferguson, Fahey, McFadden, Jerome, Taylor, Michel, Phillips, Benitez, Gardner, Murphy, Parnaby, Vignal, Queudrue.

Portsmouth team (from): James, Mullins, Piquionne, Wilson, Finnan, Webber, Hughes, Ashdown, Belhadj, Dindane, Owusu-Abeyie, O'Hara, Hreidarsson, Ben-Haim, Brown, Diop, Kanu, Basinas.