When he joined Birmingham, Dunn stated his desire to play through the middle but began the game on the right with the tough-tackling duo Robbie Savage and Stephen Clemence anchoring midfield. But he was given the central opportunity by default when Bruce had to sacrifice winger Stan Lazaridis after Kenny Cunningham had been sent off. Birmingham employed a narrow midfield trio and Dunn excelled, linking well with strikers Stern John and Christophe Dugarry to cause the Newcastle defence no end of hassle. “You could see why we spent heavily on him in the second half,” said Bruce. “He will be a very, very good signing for us. He stuck to the challenge and had a go for us. “He wants to be in that final third and be on the ball as much as he can. We will work on that over the next four or five weeks to accommodate his style.” With Dunn and new striker Luciano Figueroa now on board, Bruce feels he is beginning to develop a depth in his squad that was missing last year. His stated aim is to establish the Blues as a Premiership side and to do that he needed to expand ranks after being caught short last season. “I believe you can only be established as a Premiership club when you have been there three years,” he said. “If you do that the structure of your football club, the finances, the training ground, the facilities, the squad, everything that goes with it gets bigger and better. “That’s my aim, to establish Birmingham as a Premier League club. The one thing you need in the Premiership, without a doubt, is a squad. It’s all about the squad. “Last year we were hit with five or six injuries around Christmas time and didn’t have that depth. “Thankfully the transfer window was open so we acted.” |  |
Bruce ponders best role for Dunn
