Spare a thought for Birmingham loanee Jerome Sinclair, who cannot buy a start for the Blues at the moment.

The 20-year-old striker was given a solitary minute for Gianfranco Zola's side against Leeds last week, before being dropped from the Italian's squad altogether for Tuesday's home defeat by Wigan, and their 1-1 draw at Cardiff on Saturday.

Zola has been frantically searching for a winning formula since his arrival at St Andrew's after overseeing an alarming loss of form.

And with that brief cameo 10 days ago his only appearance since February 18, Sinclair does not feature in that solution at present.

Steven Berghuis played 83 minutes in Feyenoord's return to form against AZ Alkmaar in Eredivisie on Saturday.

The winger's loan club smashed their hosts 5-2 at Stadion Feijenoord, with Nicolae Jørgensen netting a hat-trick on their way to victory.

Berghuis did not manage to add to his impressive tally for the season with a goal or an assist, and with seven minutes to go he was replaced by Emil Hansson.

Despite the arrival of new coach Michel, there was still no room in Malaga's match-day squad for Adalberto Penaranda against Deportivo Alaves on Saturday.

The Venezuelan striker has not played a single minute of club football since January 27 and has managed only 333 all season, including a previous spell at Udinese.

Mario Suarez is another failing to find game time in recent weeks, and was left on the bench again as Valencia drew 1-1 with Sporting Gijon at the Mestalla.

The Spaniard's last start for Los Che came on February 25.

There was better news for Tommie Hoban, who earned a first start for Blackburn for more than four months after overcoming a troublesome shoulder injury which has kept him out since last year.

He played the full 90 minutes at centre-back for Rovers, who picked up a creditable 2-2 draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road.

Following a spell of his own on the sidelines, Obbi Oulare also returned to the starting line-up for Willem II as they beat FC Zwolle 2-0 at Koning Stadion.

Oulare, playing as a lone striker, failed to get on the scoresheet and was taken off after 73 minutes and replaced by Fran Sol.

Uche Agbo played the full 90 minutes of Granada's narrow 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid in central midfield.

While the performance against the Champions League-chasing visitors may have been creditable, the result leaves Granada six points off safety in La Liga.