James McFadden will get as long as possible to shake off a groin injury ahead of Birmingham's FA Cup sixth round tie at Portsmouth.
The Blues midfielder was forced to miss Scotland's friendly international win against the Czech Republic at Hampden Park on Wednesday due to the problem he suffered during last weekend's 1-0 win over Wigan.
However Blues boss Alex McLeish, who has no new injury or suspension problems for the trip to Fratton Park, is keeping his fingers crossed that McFadden will be able to prove his fitness in time for the game.
He told the club's website: "It is unusual that James would run off the pitch willingly like he did last weekend without throwing a tantrum.
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He likes to show his displeasure when we take him off with even a minute to go.
"We keep saying to the players, it is about the bigger picture, about the team, it's about the squad and sometimes it is about taking a guy off who is not at his best.
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But normally it's because of changing things legs-wise and getting freshness onto the pitch.
"When he ran off willingly last week I said 'it's not like McFadden' and I seriously worried about his chances of playing for Scotland."
McLeish added: "[Scotland coach] Craig Levein was brilliant. He was upfront in terms of the medical side of things.
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We contacted the Scotland doctor and Craig who said he wouldn't take any chances if James wasn't 100% fit.
"Now I'm hoping he wasn't far away from playing but we will assess him in training to see whether he is available to play in the Portsmouth game.
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It is a wee kind of groin strain and that can affect your movement.
"Players like James rely on mobility and the slightest little knock to players of that calibre can disrupt their whole game."