Robbie Blake is looking to fire Leeds to their first double of the season when he faces his old club Birmingham at St Andrews tomorrow.

The £800,000 striker, who has not scored since November 25, knows Leeds are up against it as they take on the Championship leaders.

Yet he says the 3-2 victory over the Blues at Elland Road in September has boosted confidence for the task.

Blake admits he learned plenty from City's players during his brief stay with them after leaving Burnley and is looking forward to his return visit.

"Some of the players at Birming-ham were top quality and I learned a lot from them," he said.

"My experience with them was short but good. They were not big-time Charlies.

"Many of them have moved on since I left but Birmingham are a fantastic club with excellent support. It will be good to go back there and hopefully take the points.

"No-one expects us to get a good result there, let alone win the game, but with the players Dennis Wise has been bringing in, we can keep more clean sheets and we're starting to look better going forward.

"We beat Birmingham at home and deserved to win. Although it was a long time ago, we can take heart from that result."

Blake is delighted with the arrival of Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo and believes Alan Thompson's imminent recruitment from Celtic will bring added quality and experience to the left side of midfield.

But he warned: "We have to tighten up all over the pitch and if we can do that we will survive."

When he left Birmingham in the summer of 2005, Blake never dreamed that Leeds would be battling against relegation a year-and-a-half later.

"I didn't need to leave Birming-ham - in fact, Steve Bruce said I could stay and fight for my place," he recalled.

"I featured in every game, so I wasn't just cast aside, but Leeds were and still are a big club.

"We nearly won promotion last season and I expected us to be in the shake-up for promotion again this time. I never thought we would be battling against relegation but, if we stay up, I am sure we can be a force again."

Gary Kelly is being considered for a return at right back, after playing 75 minutes for the reserves in midweek on recovery from a back injury, but Frazer Richardson is still out with a recurring hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, United assistant boss Gus Poyet said of the club's move for 33-year-old Thompson: "We've been looking for a couple of weeks and it's quite close.

"We've been trying hard to get him and, if everything is done, it will be magnificent. These are the kind of players you want to see at Leeds."