Alex McLeish has expressed his belief that Jean Beausejour will come good for Birmingham City.
The Chile international has had a stop-start time of it since moving from Club America in the Mexican league.
After shrugging off injury, he had a horrid starting debut in the Premier League at Stoke City, when the sheer ferocity of football in this country was brought home to him in no uncertain terms, the winger has grasped the nettle.
There were decent signs against Spurs and his cameo performance off the substitutes’ bench at Wolves, on an otherwise depressing day, suggested he was getting to grips with what’s required.
McLeish said: “He’s settling and I think he’s a determined man.
“Nobody was more disappointed in the Stoke game than Jean himself. He knows he had to wait for his opportunity. He did well the longer the game went on against Spurs and coming off the bench at Wolves he looked very lively.”
Beausejour was due to start in the Newcastle United match only for it to be postponed because of the snow.
Whether he does at Everton on Boxing Day remains to be seen, but Blues need some pace, creativity and genuine width in their play to lift the attack.
Defender Liam Ridgewell should be back for Blues after illness, while Everton received a blow with the news that Phil Jagielka is facing up to a month on the sidelines due to a thigh injury.
The England international came off towards the end of Everton’s victory at Manchester City on Monday night.
As John Heitinga is struggling to overcome a knee injury, Sylvain Distin may be the only senior centre-back available for Blues’ visit.
Phil Neville or Tony Hibbert could therefore be used alongside Distin, should Heitinga not recover.
Mikel Arteta will return after serving a three-match suspension for the Toffees, who registered their first victory in eight matches at Eastlands.
Victor Anichebe is banned after being dismissed for two bookable offences against Manchester.
The win was the sort of morale-booster Blues could do with to lift themselves away from the relegation zone.
Everton were under a lot of pressure going into the match and now, all of a sudden, there is optimistic talk about Europe as they are six points from fifth-placed Spurs.
“I still feel we are big outsiders when people talk about Europe,” said Everton manager David Moyes. “Our result keeps the league exciting.’’
