Bruce set for fitness boost
Steve Bruce has set Birmingham a demanding Christmas target of reaching 20 points in their battle to cling on to their Premiership status.
And the Blues boss expects to receive a boost in the bid to reach that goal by having virtually all of his injured players available for their clash with Bolton on Monday week.
City are 19th in the table with just six points from their opening 12 matches and are still searching for their first home win of the campaign.
But the likes of Mario Melchiot, Damien Johnson, David Dunn, Julian Gray, Olivier Tebily, and Stephen Clemence are set to be in contention for the visit of Sam Allardyce’s side.
Bruce told PA Sport: “From the Bolton game until Christmas is vital to us. We have to pick up 12 to 14 points from that period to make sure we are still in there with a shout and can still compete.
“That will take us to Christmas on around 20 points which we all know is what we require. That’s the challenge ahead of us.
“We have to stay in the division and we’ve got six points from the first 12 games which is not a good enough return.
“The good thing is that people like Melchiot, Johnson, Dunn, Gray, Clemence and Tebily should all be fit for the Bolton game after the international break.”
Bruce insists he can cope with the pressures of being involved in a relegation dogfight.
He added: “We have been in this position three years out of four since we got promoted. We had one season when we were riding high.
“Apart from that, in my opinion we’ve always been involved in a relegation scrap and always looking over our shoulder. We’ve never really been comfortable so I am used to it.
“This season, with the start we have had, we are in a worse position. But make no mistake, some other club will go six or seven games without a win and I’m confident in my players once people get fit.”
