Birmingham midfielder Sebastian Larsson is poised to return to action for the Barclays Premier League clash with Liverpool at St Andrews on Saturday.

The Swedish international missed the 5-1 defeat at Aston Villa last weekend after tweaking a medial ligament in the 1-1 draw with Everton a fortnight ago.

Olivier Kapo is also pressing for a place in the starting line-up after impressing as a substitute against Villa following two months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

But skipper Damien Johnson will again be unavailable as he completes a three-match suspension for his sending-off at Wigan.

Liverpool will be without the injured Fabio Aurelio for the clash, with boss Rafael Benitez set on resting several other stars ahead of next Wednesday's decisive Champions League semi-final second leg at Chelsea.

Aurelio will be out for three weeks with a torn abductor muscle, while Daniel Agger and Harry Kewell are still long-term absentees.

But it is likely that Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Javier Mascherano, John Arne Riise, Ryan Babel, Xabi Alonso and Jose Reina could also be left out. Jermaine Pennant, David Martin, Charles Itandje, Damien Plessis and Emiliano Insua are likely to be in the squad.