Chris Burke completes Blues move

Chris Burke has set his sights on helping Birmingham make an instant return to the Premier League after completing his free transfer move to St Andrew's.

The winger is reunited with his former Glasgow Rangers manager Alex McLeish after putting pen to paper on a two-year deal at St Andrew's.

Burke will officially arrive on July 1, once the 27-year-old's contract with former club Cardiff runs out.

And after suffering promotion heartache with the Welsh club in the past three seasons, Glasgow-born Burke is keen to help Blues put the disappointment of their last-day relegation from the Premier League behind them.

He said: "Birmingham is a massive club. Obviously it was disappointing for them to drop down to the Championship but, hopefully, I can be part of the revolution of getting back up there.

"I had a great time at Cardiff, I cannot speak more highly of them, but I felt as a player I needed a fresh start and a new challenge. I had a great time at Cardiff but it was always disappointing at the end. It was hard going.

"We missed out three times and were always ever so close but it just wasn't meant to be. Hopefully that won't be the case here at Birmingham.

"You can see from the players in the squad here that they are a very strong side and very capable of going straight back up."

Burke will be reunited with central defender Roger Johnson, who played for the Bluebirds before moving to St Andrew's two years ago.