On 20 August, Carson Yeung's Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed Grandtop International placed a deposit of £3 million ahead of a new proposed takeover bid.

[5] This was quickly followed by Yeung's decision to donate £5 million to the club for the purchase of Middlesbrough's Tuncay, but such a gift would have broken HKSE rules, and the player signed for Stoke City instead.

[6] The takeover date was put back from October to mid-November, because of a delay to the EGM required to approve the issue of an additional 50% shares, following his capture of a £57m bridging loan to cover the purchase of the club.

The draw saw them travel down to the south coast to play League One team Southampton for the second time in consecutive seasons.

An early goal from Jordan Henderson and a strike by Fraizer Campbell midway through the first half was enough to see Birmingham knocked out of the cup 2–0.