It emerged yesterday that a Birmingham City representative was in Dundee yesterday to watch Greg Stewart score twice in a League Cup group match against Forfar Athletic. The 26-year-old striker scored nine times in the Scottish Premiership last season and already has six in three league cup games this term.

I’m not sure how far down the pecking order of targets Stewart was, but there is no doubting that Blues have been looking at him with Gary Rowett admitting after the Roda JC Kerkrade game he was looking at the Scottish forward but refusing to confirm any reports of a bid.

As I understand it Blues haven’t made a bid yet; apparently Dundee are looking for £1.5million for Stewart but with the forward being out of contract at the end of the upcoming season there is a probability that they may have to settle for a fair bit less – particularly as he could sign a pre-contract with a Championship side as early as January 1.

Of course, a striker is just one of three positions I think Blues really need to look at prior to the window closing. Whatever one thinks of Jonathan Grounds as it stands he is our only senior left-back (I’m not counting Paul Robinson any more) and with the dearth of left footed players in the team, there is a lot of imbalance. I really do hope this is sorted out – be it a loan or a permanent signing because I think it’s the one thing that will really bite us on the bum if we’re not careful.

It does feel a bit groundhog day; like I’m saying the same things constantly but as the season draws ever closer it’s harder not to give credence to the people who have complained about a lack of action. I know I’ve upset people in the club in the January transfer window and no doubt I will have again this summer by saying that our transfer policy hasn’t been great but the truth is we’re seeing the same things consistently happening; the same issues with trying to close deals and bring players in and while money is obviously a factor we’re not the only financially poor team in this division – we can’t keep using it as an excuse.

I’m not going to say it’s got to the point where I think we should just sign anyone because that is wrong; I want our scouting staff to continue doing their due diligence and I want Blues to remain careful as to who they sign. That being said, I’m also very aware that we can’t afford the club to not sort out making signings; no decision is as bad if not worse than a bad decision and should we go into September with our current squad it could be a very long season indeed.

Tags: Greg Stewart