Exclusive – McCarthy: Hughton must keep hold of Birmingham’s star names

Jon McCarthy believes Chris Hughton should focus on keeping the star names already at Birmingham rather than trying to sign new ones.

Blues defenders Scott Dann and Rodger Johnson have attracted attention from Stoke and Wolves respectively whilst Craig Gardner has been targeted to replace Jordan Henderson in the middle of Sunderland’s midfield.

And the former St Andrew’s favourite has claimed that the ex-Newcastle manager will need to hold on to the majority of his squad if he wants to push for Championship glory.

Speaking to the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show, McCarthy said: “Birmingham need to keep Foster, Dann, Johnson, Ferguson and Gardner - the nucleus of the squad.

“If they do then they’ll be challenging to come straight back up and I would expect them to be challenging for the Championship title.

“If they can keep those players then Birmingham will be OK.

“The chairman promised a lot of money initially, around £40million and I know the whole world situation has changed but that money hasn’t been forthcoming.

“There’s been a couple of players brought in by Alex McLeish but will Birmingham have to sell some of those to bring others in?

"If Chris Hughton can get them onside and keep the players he’s got then they can get a good start to the season.”