Hughton hopes for Zigic stay

Birmingham manager Chris Hughton hopes to keep Nikola Zigic beyond the end of January.

St Andrew's boss would be 'delighted' if striker is not sold

Birmingham manager Chris Hughton hopes to keep Nikola Zigic beyond the end of January. The giant striker's two goals on Wednesday night helped his Championship promotion-chasing club to a 2-1 win over Ipswich. But Zigic is by far and away the biggest wage earner on cash-strapped Birmingham's books and he has been linked with a January move away from St Andrew's. The 31-year-old former Valencia forward has himself spoken of his desire to stay and Hughton hopes that will be the case. Birmingham's manager said: "If he ends up staying past the end of January, then I'll be delighted. I think he's a lad who's happy here, settled in well with his family.

Frustrations

"When you're that tall you're never going to be the quickest, but he's mobile and he will put himself around. "There's always going to be the frustrating bits with Nikola, but he's a lad who really wants to do well, to play and to score goals. People will be surprised by the distance he covers in a game. "He's a player who's taken longer to get up to speed, because of what he's missed (due to injury). "He is what he is, and what he is here is somebody who scored two goals and won the game. "There are going to be some frustrations in his game, but if we can get a good enough service to him he'll certainly work hard to make things happen."