IF HE was ten years younger, maybe there wouldn’t be such a scrabbling around for strikers at Blues.

But he isn’t, and there is.

They’ve had various contenders passing through St Andrew’s over recent years.

Remember the Lee Bradburys, Mark Burchills and Isaiah Rankins through to the dallying with the likes of Walter Pandiani, Chris Sutton and Rowan Vine? Even Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke have been engaged.

Going further back to the Barmy Barry days, remember Dan Sahlin? Exactly.

The catalogue of those targeted but not delivered over the years is even longer.

And you’d be forgiven for thinking that Alex McLeish’s fabled list this January had to be scrawled on several sheets of A3.

Obafemi Martins’ impending arrival looks, on the face of it, a nifty piece of business.

But what if Kevin Phillips had less miles on the clock? He would be starting and scoring (of course) – no question.

That is not to say Super Kev is heading to the great goalmouth in the sky just yet.

The way he plundered the winner in the 73rd minute by controlling Jean Beausejour’s deep corner in an instant and quickly thundering it back across into the top corner of the net was fantastic, and typical.

This was only Phillips’ second 90 minutes of the season (in actual fact, he played the whole period of extra-time against Brentford in the Carling Cup, having scored a stoppage-time equaliser). As he grew into the game, his fleet-footedness and dainty control was impressively sharp considering his long inactivity over the months, and it was well suited to Blues’ intricate, short-passing approach.

Phillips still has plenty to offer Blues but, as an impact player, he can’t really be expected to do the leg work in the Premier League week in, week out, such is its speed and draining intensity.

He has other clubs wanting to sign him before tonight’s transfer deadline and both he and McLeish are caught between a rock and a hard place as Martins would make it five strikers to choose from.

You can’t have enough firepower, enough forward options.

And, as there is still a chunk of the season to go, and games increasing in their importance – not to mention the Carling Cup final at Wembley – it’s all hands on deck.

And that includes Nikola Zigic. Obviously, he offers something different to the rest.