CHRIS Hughton admits he will again be seeking the right formula for the Blues engine room once Guirane N’Daw departs on international duty.

For Blues’ last three Championship matches, N’Daw and Keith Fahey have formed a very handy alliance in the centre of the park.

Blues are sure to extend N’Daw’s loan from Saint-Etienne to the season’s end tomorrow but then have to wave him goodbye for a spell due to the African Nations Cup.

The Senegal star leaves this weekend, under FIFA rules. The competition runs from January 21-February 12 in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

So Hughton will once more be hoping to find the right combination after the success of N’Daw and Fahey’s partnership.

Jonathan Spector and Fahey had been the preferred pair before Stephen Carr’s injury, which put Spector to right-back and opened the way for N’Daw and Fahey to come together.

Morgaro Gomis has been left out recently because of his compatriot N’Daw’s emergence and Jordon Mutch has come back into the picture after recovering from a broken ankle sustained in August.

“I think both Keith and Guirane have done very well for us in there,” said Hughton.

“With Keith, he has always been a player capable of high energy and distance. Guirane has tended to play a little deeper in recent years but he can also drive on.

“It is always just finding the right balance and right formula.

“At the moment they have given us a solidity in the middle of the park and they can both pass a ball and, in Guirane’s case, he has given us a physical presence as well. I’ve been very pleased with them and especially the last two games, they have had to work very hard because of the way the opposition [Blackpool and Peterborough] play.”

N’Daw has had to bide his time before making a big breakthrough at St Andrew’s.

Hughton had only used him in the Europa League and Carling Cup as he settled in and improved his fitness and sharpness.