Birmingham yet to confirm international clearance for Alen Halilovic

Posted Tuesday, December 01, 2020 by PA

Birmingham have yet to confirm whether they have received international clearance for new signing Alen Halilovic for the home game against Barnsley.

Croatia midfielder Halilovic joined until the end of the season last week as a free agent after leaving AC Milan last month and was unable to feature in Saturday’s goalless draw against Millwall.

Boss Aitor Karanka has not reported any new injuries and midfielder Riley McGree is pushing for a recall to the starting XI after returning as an unused substitute at the weekend.

Josh McEachran is edging closer to a return to action after a serious knee injury, but fellow midfielder Adam Clayton and goalkeeper Zach Jeacock (both ankle) are still out.

Barnsley defender Aapo Halme is expected to return to contention after injury.

The Finland Under-21 centre-back has missed the last three games due to a calf problem he recently sustained on international duty.

Fellow defender Jordan Williams is still out, but manager Valerien Ismael has no new injury concerns following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Blackburn.

The Reds are bidding to bounce back from two straight defeats after winning four of Ismael’s first five games in charge.