McFadden joined Birmingham from Everton in January

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish has said he thinks his former club Rangers would not be able to afford to take James McFadden away from St Andrews.

Newspaper reports have linked the forward with a return to Scotland to join the Ibrox club.

But McLeish, a former Rangers manager, told BBC WM: "I don't think Rangers have got the money to afford McFadden.

"I would doubt that very much. I have never heard that one, it's a new one for me."

McLeish has started four different strikers in Blues' first two competitive games of the season.

I believe that the players who are here all have strong mentalities and can handle it Alex McLeish

McFadden and Marcus Bent started against Sheffield United, but both were on the bench for the League Cup game against Wycombe with Kevin Phillips and Garry O'Connor in the staring eleven.

McLeish said: "It's not going to be easy to keep everybody happy but the players know, they bought into it when they came into the club.

"They've seen the strikers and the level of the strikers, if they feared that I'm sure they wouldn't have joined the club.

"Any player who feels insecure about that, you probably wouldn't want them here.

"But I believe that the players who are here all have strong mentalities and can handle it, they might not be happy but when they get their chance they've got to do something about it."