Bruce plays up Blues encounter

And Black Cats boss pays credit to former club's progress

Last updated: 19th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Bruce plays up Blues encounter

Bruce: Wants strong finish

I read a stat that they had picked the same team for 14 games on the trot - that can only breed a little bit of confidence

Steve Bruce on Birmingham
Quotes of the week

Related links

Teams

Also see

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has described Saturday's Premier League clash against Birmingham as 'season defining'.

The Black Cats tactician has urged his side to push for a top-10 finish after they finally ended their 14-match winless run earlier in the month but is wary that a defeat to his former employers could drag them back into a relegation battle.

But since battering Bolton 4-0 on 9th March, the Wearside outfit look revitalised and came within a whisker of successive wins for the first time in over a year but for Adam Johnson's injury-time equaliser for Manchester City last weekend.

With a run of four successive home games coming to an end this weekend, the importance of the visit of eighth-placed Blues, who many would have predicted a role reversal with their 14th positioned opponents at the start of the season, has not been lost on Bruce.

With Sunderland's next three games coming against the top-four chasing trio of Aston Villa, Liverpool and Tottenham, Bruce is desperate to start a testing period with a maximum haul against his old club.

Defining

He said: "I would be very, very pleased with that if I could get it [a win], and it would define our season because then we have got a chance of going above Blackburn, we have got a chance of catching Bolton and making a play of finishing in the top 10.

"That's what we have got to try to achieve now. Can we try to stop looking over our shoulders - even though we still are, if I am being honest, we are still looking over.

"But that's got to be the aim, to finish off the season strongly. It won't be easy - we have got some big games coming up, either from the top end or the bottom end of the table."

Bruce received a warm reception from the City fans at St Andrews on 24th October, only to see his side slump to a 2-1 defeat, and he has been impressed by the progress Alex McLeish has masterminded this season.

The Black Cats boss, who spent six years at the West Midlanders' helm, spoke with envy how his Premier League counterpart has been afforded the luxury of naming an unchanged team for long periods this season, something which Bruce has not been able to do.

He said: "I read a stat that they had picked the same team for 14 games on the trot - that can only breed a little bit of confidence, breed a little bit of belief in the team, and of course, there is a great understanding when you are able to do that."