Bowyer expects summer Blues exit

Birmingham’s Lee Bowyer does not expect to be offered a new contract when his current deal expires this summer.

Bowyer, 34, starred in Sunday’s Carling Cup triumph over Arsenal but has confirmed he is looking for a new club.

When asked if he was to be offered a new deal, the midfielder said: “I think at the moment the club have said ‘no’.

“That is not going to happen so I’ll be looking elsewhere. They might change their mind and keep me on, you never know. But that is up to the club.”

Bowyer insisted he wanted to remain at St Andrews regardless of the Arsenal result but admitted: “It is out of my hands. All I can do is try to put on performances.”

And the London-born player, who joined Birmingham from West Ham in 2009, believes he is still good enough to play at the top level.

“Because of your age, people still question whether you can still get box to box, if you can still do what you used to do. But I think I showed against Arsenal that I obviously can.

“I’ve scored important goals this season, against Chelsea, Manchester United and in the semi-final against West Ham. I’ve also got a good track record in Europe as well, I’ve scored quite a few goals in Europe.

“I’ve been doing it my whole career. Nothing has changed, apart from my age. I’ve just got older and wiser and just tried to calm down.

“My deal is done here in the summer at Birmingham. I can still do the business so we will see what happens.”

If Bowyer does leave, he will at least be able to look back on the first medal he has won during his lengthy career.

“It was my first final, I’ve been in a lot of semi-finals,” added the former Leeds and Newcastle player, capped once by England. “Thankfully I’ve got a medal now and it is the right one.

“In the past, when I was at Leeds, everyone put us down to win this, that and the other in terms of trophies and it never happened.

“I’m just thankful and I’ve had a taste of it. I remember (former Leeds manager) David O’Leary saying to me, ‘It is not how much money you earn, it is the medals you get’, and that is the most important thing.

“I can go home and show my kids I’ve won a medal and not a lot of people can do that.”