Shaun Goater will line up alongside Nicolas Anelka when Manchester City take on Birmingham City at St. Andrews today.

Goater, who partnered the Frenchman in last week's 3-0 home defeat by Chelsea, will be preferred to Darren Huckerby as manager Kevin Keegan seeks to move his side away from the relegation zone.

Keegan has made it clear that ?13-million signing Anelka is his number one choice up front and Goater now seems to be his preferred foil.

"We are still learning what Nicolas is all about," said the boss. "We know he is quick and we know what sort of service he wants.

"This week we have been working on whether we can provide the sort of service he wants or if he is going to have to settle for something in between, not always the one ball which he wants.

"We have been pairing him a lot in training this week with Shaun Goater as I thought last week in the Chelsea game it worked well for 70 minutes. We just didn't get the breaks."