But he has challenged the 33-year-old to keep producing the form he demonstrated when scoring the winner against Chelsea last weekend. McLeish revealed Blues held initial talks during the summer with Bowyer over a new deal but failed to reach any agreement. Since then Bowyer, whose current contract ends next summer, had lost his place in the starting line-up before an injury to Craig Gardner earned him a recall. McLeish said: "It's too early to be talking about contracts just now. I know that Lee and guys of his ilk whose contracts are up will have to plan for themselves. But we just want to keep the players motivated and fighting to stay in the team." McLeish added: "We did have some talks with Lee in the summer but it never quite worked out and we never quite got to an agreement. But the gauntlet is there for him to keep producing what he has done over the last couple of years - and to do what he did last week."
