Carr in Birmingham talks

The 32-year-old announced his retirement in December last year after failing to find a new club following his summer release from Newcastle.

Carr, who has made 44 appearances for the Republic of Ireland, has been on trial with the Championship title-chasing Blues for the last few weeks in an attempt to impress McLeish.

And the Scot has now revealed that Carr - who has also played for Tottenham during his career - could be offered terms, along with former Aston Villa defender Ulises de la Cruz.

"We're still looking at Stephen and Ulises and assessing them. They've been out for a long time and you've just got to be sure," McLeish said.

"We'll talk to Stephen about the possibility of a short-term deal.

"He is in decent nick and both his and De la Cruz's figures in the sports science department are of a good standard."