He had picked up the problem in the previous game against Newcastle and even the two week international break did not give him enough time to recover.

He said: "I have still got a bit of swelling around my knee and I need that to go before I can start playing again.

"I have done some running but it has been two weeks since I trained. "Hopefully I will be available for the game against Southampton."

Izzet, meanwhile, is relishing life at Birmingham after his summer switch from Leicester City that reunited him with his former team-mates, Robbie Savage and Emile Heskey

"At Leicester we had a work ethic and I suppose that the way the gaffer wants us to play here is quite similar," added Izzet. "He wants his players to work hard and he has signed the players to do that.

"It was quite easy for me to settle in and with having Robbie and Emile here it makes it easier. "We have progressed together and now we are at Birmingham City we want to try and progress here still further."