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Blues eyeing up Derby County striker

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Gianfranco Zola has turned his attention to Derby County’s Johnny Russell in his attempt to lure a striker to Birmingham City, according to the Derby Telegraph.

Russell, a Scotland international, has scored 28 goals in 100 league starts for the Rams. After losing his place in the squad under former manager Nigel Pearson, the Glasweigan forced his way back into contention under current boss Steve McClaren.

Russell played a big part in getting McClaren’s second reign at the club off to a perfect start by scoring the winner against Leeds United back in October after being introduced as a second half substitute. Since then, his involvement in the team hasn’t been on a consistent basis with Abdoul Camara and Matej Vydra also competing for places.

The Derby Telegraph report – ‘Birmingham boss Gianfranco Zola would like to add the Scotland international to his squad’.

With Clayton Donaldson sidelined through injury, Zola’s squad has only two fit strikers – Lukas Jutkiewicz and Che Adams. Russell, who can also play in both wide berths, is contracted at Pride Park until the summer of 2018 but carries a market value of around £1.5 million.

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