QPR boss targets Birmingham defender

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QPR boss Neil Warnock is looking to sign defender Liam Ridgewell from Birmingham.

Ridgewell, 27, has also attracted interest from West Brom since Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season.

Rangers have also spoken to the agent of Manchester City and England wide-man Shaun Wright-Phillps and made an enquiry about Armand Traore with a view to signing the 21-year-old from Arsenal.

Traore, who is primarily a left-back but can play further forward, spent last term on loan at Juventus and a number of clubs are keen to take him for the rest of this season.

Ridgewell was on West Ham’s books prior to being snapped up by Aston Villa, where he made 93 first-team appearances before joining the club’s city rivals for £2m in 2007, becoming the first player for 23 years to move from Villa to Birmingham.

He started out as a left winger but has spent much of his career as a central defender and can also play at left-back, where QPR’s options have been limited by Clint Hill’s recent three-match ban.

In 2009, Ridgewell suffered a broken leg in a challenge with R’s forward Jamie Mackie, who was playing for Plymouth at the time and is now himself recovering from a serious injury.

Warnock is due to hold a midday meeting with Joey Barton, who has been mulling over a move to Loftus Road from Newcastle.