Martin Taylor may have played his last game for Birmingham City as Alex McLeish, the manager, looks set to overlook the central defender and ask Franck Queudrue, a left back, to replace Liam Ridgewell, who is suspended, for tomorrow’s game at home to Manchester City.

McLeish admits that the fallout from the Arsenal game last month, when Taylor was sent off for a tackle that left Eduardo da Silva with a compound fracture of the left tibia and a dislocated ankle, will affect the chances of the defender being selected. “Of course it will,” McLeish said. “If I thought it was a problem, I’d have to consider it.”

As Birmingham hope to turn good performances into victories to keep them out of the relegation zone, Taylor’s sensitive situation is an unwanted distraction for McLeish. But the furore that followed Eduardo’s horrendous injury means that the issue will not go away. With seven games remaining, it is uncertain whether Taylor will be in the right frame of mind to enter an increasingly tense relegation battle and McLeish was not an immediate admirer of the player.

Taylor has confirmed that Eduardo, whom he visited in hospital, has accepted his apology for the incident but the episode has cast a shadow. The defender played for the reserve team last week after completing a three-match ban but was not involved in the 2-1 defeat away to Reading on Saturday.

Before Taylor made his brief return to the first team in January, when Radhi Jaidi went away with Tunisia for the African Cup of Nations, McLeish admitted that he was prepared to let the 28-year-old move on. When terms could not be agreed with Norwich City, with whom he had been on loan, or Queens Park Rangers, the player got his chance under McLeish. He was only three minutes into his third game, however, when he was sent off in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal.

McLeish was playing his cards close to his chest yesterday when asked about Taylor’s readiness to withstand the glare of publicity that would inevitably accompany his return to action in the Barclays Premier League. “He’s ready, fitness-wise,” the manager said. “He’s only played one reserve game in four weeks, but he’s ready to play. I’ve got to consider whether it significantly improves the team. Our centre halves are much of a muchness: I don’t think one’s been more outstanding than another, they’re all justifiably fighting for a spot.

“He’s in contention, Queudrue’s in contention, [Rafael] Schmitz is in contention. We have choices and we’ve got to try and find the right formula. We’ve tried Franck at centre back in recent reserve games and he’s solid. He’s very aggressive in the air and I know he’s played there before for Middlesbrough.”

Taylor played cautiously in last week’s reserve game against Tottenham Hotspur; the next second-string fixture is against Aston Villa on Monday. “If he was tentative at all, I’d have to consider that,” McLeish said. “Maybe he needs another reserve game for us to make a judgment.”

McLeish will have to do without the wizardry of James McFadden for a fortnight, but the manager has been boosted by the forward’s reaction to the keyhole knee surgery he required last Saturday.