City boss Mark Hughes knows what a boost new ownership can mean to a football club and has warned his men to expect Birmingham to be a stern test this afternoon.

The Midlanders perked up instantly and won their first game under the boardroom leadership of Chinese businessman Carson Yeung when they got the better of Sunderland a week ago.

Hughes knows full well that the home side will be fired up again to make it two wins out of two but also understands that the goalposts of expectation have been shifted at St. Andrews.

“When investment comes into a club you have to spend it wisely,” he advised.

“You would like to think that we have done that throughout the whole club.

“On the playing side, we have increased the quality here. If you have the right players with the correct mentality than you can improve the way you perform.

“Everyone has seen that we have been able to do that and we hope it continues until the end of the season.

“The takeover at Birmingham has given them a shot in the arm but they cannot spend any money until January so possibly it is a good time to play them!

“Thereafter the pressure on Birmingham to improve will depend on the amount of finance made available for players.

When Sheikh Mansour took over here everyone assumed that we would have an endless amount of money to spend but that is not the case.

...Mark Hughes

“There are budgets that everyone has to work to and we are working to one.”

On loan City keeper Joe Hart is not allowed to play against his parent club and will be a spectator today. He is likely to see a City side at full strength apart from the continued absence of British record signing Robinho and defender Nedum Onuoha who is back in full training.

Emmanuel Adebayor’s painful back spasm, which kept him out of midweek Carling Cup duty, is expected to have improved enough for him to figure.

Skipper Kolo Toure, Wayne Bridge and Craig Bellamy who all missed the five-goal rout of Scunthorpe are all also expected to return and be available for selection giving the manager – who is celebrating his birthday – plenty to think about in terms of a starting eleven.