Gary Rowett: 'We're ready for Blyth Spartans challenge'

Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett has insisted that his players will be up to the challenge of travelling to Blyth Spartans in their FA Cup third-round match.

The Spartans overcame their North-East rivals Hartlepool in the last round to set up the meeting with the Blues at Croft Park, and Rowett feels that the humble setting of the ground will not deter his players from producing their best performance.

He told reporters: "Not all of our players have been Premier League and Championship players all their lives so I'm sure there will be a few who have played at this type of ground.

"Some even would have started at grounds like Blyth and that's the beauty of the Cup. It'll be great for Blyth, they have done brilliantly to get this far. The one thing our players won't do is turn up at Blyth and think 'it's not as big a ground as we're used to'.

"That's ridiculous. We're all in the same profession, we'll turn up and make sure we're 100% committed."

Birmingham have never lifted the FA Cup in their history, but they finished runners-up in 1931 and 1956.