Keegan turns to Martins

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The 23-year-old Nigeria striker remains the the club's leading scorer this season despite being marginalised by former manager Sam Allardyce as well as missing games while on African Nations Cup duty.

Keegan said: "He excites me very much as a player. He is very, very different to anything that not only have we got at this football club, but probably in the Premier League."

He added: "He has got a lot of things going for him that you do not see every day on a training ground. I am delighted to have him back and delighted that he is fit again.

"It sends up all sorts of ideas in your mind of what this player can bring to the football club."

Martins contributed 17 goals to the Newcastle cause during his first campaign on Tyneside after accepting the challenge of filling Alan Shearer's boots at St James' Park.

However, the summer arrivals of Mark Viduka and Alan Smith saw him played largely out of position or as a substitute under Allardyce.

Viduka, who has been plagued by injury during his time on Tyneside, has scored five times this season, while £17million man Michael Owen has managed just one more.

Australian Viduka could return at Birmingham on Monday night after calf and hamstring problems, which have restricted him to just one appearance as a substitute since the middle of January.

Keegan faces something of a selection headache, with Owen and Alan Smith having made up his frontline for much of the time since his return to the club.