Onel Hernandez has revealed how Lee Bowyer convinced him to come to Birmingham City.

The Cuban, who scored his first goal for Blues in thei r 2-1 victory over Barnsley on Saturday, was forced into a snap decision to swap Middlesbrough for Blues.

Having started the season well under Neil Warnock, he has struggled for game time since Chris Wilder came in at The Riverside.

That left Hernandez and parent club Norwich with a decision to make - and quickly.

It was Bowyer’s honesty which made it an easy decision. “It [leaving Middlesbrough] was not amazing but that’s how it is and in football, you just have to move to another place,” the winger said.

“I found out Thursday and then I have to travel to training on Friday morning and then from Middlesbrough to London because I have two dogs and I have to leave them with my fiancé in London.

“The next morning I went from London to Birmingham. There was a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Middlesbrough to London with the dogs but next day from London to Birmingham was just two hours.

“It was definitely my decision [to leave Middlesbrough] as well. [At] Middlesbrough, I didn’t get a lot of game time there and then I had a good conversation with the gaffer from here and there was nothing to think about.

“The conversation was so good that I thought it was the right decision to do.

“It is important to get the trust and the belief from the coach and it was sometimes difficult in the past. I also had some injuries and then you have never been on your level.

“But if you get the trust and someone believes in you, and you keep working, then I think there is more to come from me, 100 per cent.

“I’ve got that trust with Lee. He is very good with players. You see it every day on the training ground.

“He speaks to the young lads, he helps the experienced lads, he explains ‘What can you do better’ and he has helped with me.

“Straight away he said ‘You can work on that and that and that’, that is very good and important for a player.

“I have to work. I am 28, I’m not 19, and there is a lot still to do and that’s why this was the first thing I was thinking about and the conversation was very brilliant with him.”

However, Hernandez, who is already a hit with Blues fans, is refusing to look too far down the line and declined to be drawn on his Carrow Road future.

“At the moment, I don’t really think about Norwich. They have to worry about themselves. I am not part of that team at the moment,” he continued.

“They are doing well, they won yesterday but I’m here and very happy to be at Birmingham and that’s the most important at the moment.

“At the moment I don’t know about the summer. I am thinking about the up and coming games.

“We have an important game on Tuesday. I don’t really have plans at this stage for the summer. I want to concentrate on the following games.”