McLeish sure he can snare Cahill

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish heads for Sunderland tonight ready to do battle on and off the pitch.

The two sides meet in a game vital to both clubs' Premier League survival hopes and are also part of a threeway battle to sign Aston Villa defender Gary Cahill.

Birmingham and Sunderland are thought to have matched Bolton's offer — thought to be around £4.5million — for the England Under 21 international and the player is expected to meet Birmingham officials this morning.

Bolton agreed a fee with Villa at the weekend but McLeish insists that his club are very much in the hunt.

"Cahill is a player we admire and we would like to bring him here," said the former Scotland manager. "We will just have to wait and see what happens over the next 48 hours. We are in touch with his agent and Martin O'Neill (Villa's boss)."

McLeish is considering giving new signing James McFadden his full debut at Sunderland, while Birmingham's new Argentina Under 20 striker, Mauro Zarate — who is on loan from Qatar side Al-Sadd — will make the trip.

McLeish believes Zarate could back up his words with actions after he said he wants to make as big an impact in this country as his compatriot, Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez.

"It's great to hear lads having confidence in themselves and ambition," said McLeish. "Sometimes people would knock it and say: 'Who does he think he is?'.

"But we've got to have guys like that, guys who are confident and have a bit of a swagger about them. But, of course, in the end it's about letting your feet do the talking."