Martins out for rest of season

Birmingham striker Obafemi Martins has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his leg.

The 26-year-old, who is at St Andrew’s on loan until the end of the season from Russian side Rubin Kazan, has undergone surgery to correct the problem, but will be sidelined for Birmingham’s remaining four games.

The Nigerian scored the winner in his side’s 2-1 triumph over Arsenal in the final of the Carling Cup on February 27, and Birmingham boss Alex McLeish said the problem had proved difficult to diagnose.

“It’s a blow for him and a blow for us and we wish him a speedy recovery,” McLeish said.

“He passed his medical and everything was fine for six weeks but then it became obvious something was not quite right.”

“The problem has crept up on him during the past month or so, and a stress fracture was diagnosed.”

It had been reported that the Midlands club had an option to buy Martins at the end of the loan period, but McLeish said he would not speak about any move to sign the striker permanently until the end of the season.