O'Connor has not scored for Birmingham in nearly 12 months

Barnsley have signed Birmingham City striker Garry O'Connor on an initial one-month emergency loan deal.

The 16-times capped Scotland international missed the majority of last season after undergoing two hip operations.

The 27-year-old then signed a new six-month deal in the summer in a bid to prove his fitness, but has made just two starts so far this term for Blues.

And he has been allowed out on loan to get games under his belt at Oakwell.

Mark Robins' improving Tykes are in mid-table in the Championship, having picked up three points out of the last seven after starting the season disastrously with a 4-0 defeat at QPR and a League Cup exit at home to Rochdale.

O'Connor's last game for Blues was, ironically, also in the League Cup against Rochdale, when he played in his side's 3-2 second round win on 26 August.

His only other appearance was on the opening day of the season at Sunderland when he lasted until just before the hour in a 2-2 draw.

Barnsley have already revealed that they hope to extend the loan beyond a month.

Edinburgh-born O'Connor started his professional career under McLeish at Hibernian in 1999, hitting 58 goals in 166 games.

That earned a move in March 2006 to Lokomotiv Moscow, where he spent almost 16 months, hitting seven goals in 33 matches.

It was during his time in Russia that he made his international breakthrough with Scotland - and he was brought back to British football by then Blues boss Steve Bruce for £2.7m in June 2007.

But injuries have limited him to just 21 Premier League starts in three seasons, although he has hit 12 goals in 57 appearances, the majority have which been off the bench.

His last strike came almost a year ago when he came off the bench to hit the only goal of the game in Blues' 1-0 win at Hull.

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