Sunderland-Birmingham City Preview

Oct 22, 2009 - 1:14 PM MICK ROBERTS STATS European Football Writer=

LONDON (SE) - Former Birmingham manager Steve Bruce returns to his old club as Sunderland boss on Saturday, fearing a hostile reception from the newly-sold club.

Freshly-installed owner Carson Yeung has promised manager Alex McLeish up to 40 million pounds to spend in the January transfer window but it is the players already at Birmingham that Bruce is most wary.

Bruce said: "Birmingham are hard to beat. They play with just one front player and five in midfield where they have Lee Bowyer and Barry Ferguson ready to make life difficult for us.

"I only wish we had Lee Cattermole available because it is the sort of clash he would relish and just the sort of player we need."

England under-21 captain Cattermole, a huge hit with Sunderland fans since his summer move from Wigan, is out for up to three months with medial knee ligament damage.

Bruce said: "Lee is going to be a big miss because he loves to get out there and rampage around. He enjoys these sort of games."

Bruce is challenging teenage discovery Jordan Henderson to fill the gap caused by Cattermole's long term absence.

"When I first arrived he really stood out. I think he has a big, big future and that is why we have given him a long contract. I believe in him."

Sunderland boss Bruce is still in the record book as Birmingham's longest-serving manager since World War II but the last few months of his almost-six years at St Andrew's were blighted by constant takeover talks involving Far East businessman Yeung.

"First it was on, then it was off. I never knew where I stood and from July until my last game in charge in November, 2007 I was a dead man walking. I could never get anything done.

"I have great affection for Birmingham and I wish them well. I hope they prosper now that they have serious money behind them and I think they can go on and rival Aston Villa."

Birmingham manager McLeish is already flexing his new-found muscles in the transfer market and opened talks for Wolfsburg strikers Edin Dzeko and Grafite before abandoning them.

McLeish said: "Wolfsburg wanted 15 million euros for Dzeko but just because there is money to spend we will not be held to ransom.

"I expect us to be busy in January. But that is two or three months away and there are plenty of matches between now and then.

"We might struggle to bring in the quality players we require if we are down near the bottom of the table when we start talking to them.

"In many ways this is a new era the club is entering. I am obviously keen to improve this squad as soon as I can but there are some good players here already who will want to be part of our future."

McLeish is expected to keep the side beaten 3-1 at Arsenal last week which means another chance for striker Cameron Jerome to help cure a chronic scoring problem. The Blues have managed only six goals in nine league matches.