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Birmingham preview
Alex McLeish hailed the achievements of his Birmingham predecessor Steve Bruce - and then urged the fans to give his Sunderland side "absolute dog's abuse" when he returns to St Andrew's on Saturday.

Bruce spent nearly six years at Blues, steering them to promotion twice and keeping them in the top flight for four successive seasons despite having only limited funds to spend.

McLeish wants the fans to recognise Bruce's record at City before kick-off, but then to make life as uncomfortable as possible for the Black Cats.

McLeish said: "Steve is where he is now because he did a good job at Birmingham and I'd like to think, if I can last as long as Steve, then we will be doing something right here.

"Now he is doing a good job at Sunderland. Steve has spent a few quid and he has spent it wisely and brought in good players.

"He has mastered that in the last three or four years and done a lot of good, solid business.

"I think Steve should get a nice polite clap from the crowd when he walks down the track to the dug-out because of the sterling work he did here.

"But then the fans have got to get right onto the Sunderland players' backs after that, give them absolute dog's abuse, be relentless and get back to the type of fans that Steve inherited when he came to Birmingham.

"At that time the City fans were notorious for their vociferous support for the home team and also for the way they unsettled the away team." Carson Yeung will oversee his first home game since taking control of Birmingham and McLeish senses the fans are relishing a new era at the club after 16 years under David Sullivan and David Gold.

The former Scotland boss said: "It is a new era. The fans got a wee bit fed up over the last few years. They have been a little bit doom and gloom.

"I'm not casting anything against the the previous board. It's just that people get into a rut and they just fell out of love with the club a wee bit.

"Now it is time for a new era and the Blues fans to give their full backing and I sense an excitement amongst them."

Franck Queudrue and Stuart Parnaby are available after injury. Queudrue, who has been converted from left-back into a central defender this season, and right-back Parnaby have been included in the squad after recovering from hamstring problems.

On-loan Sunderland midfielder Teemu Tainio is ineligible to face Bruce's side.

Sunderland preview
Bruce will count his blessings rather than dwell on bitter memories.

The Sunderland boss will take his side to St Andrew's sitting seventh in the Premier League table after last weekend's 1-0 win over Liverpool and with #10million striker Darren Bent leading the goalscoring charts alongside Spanish superstar Fernando Torres.

Bruce has spent the last few months operating under the kind of conditions he would have considered luxurious during much of his managerial career, enjoying the full backing of a benevolent billionaire owner in Ellis Short and a forward-thinking and ambitious chairman in Niall Quinn.

Bruce said: "One of the reasons I came here was for last Saturday, when there was a huge capacity crowd, Liverpool at home and having a team that could compete with them.

"That's one of the reasons, and of course, all the other stuff.

"From top to bottom here, I have never had to do a thing, really. I have never had to change anything and that's huge testament to Roy Keane and his professionalism, and to Niall too.

"It has been first class." The surroundings in which Bruce currently finds himself could hardly be more different to the ones he encountered when he left Manchester United to join Birmingham as a player during the summer of 1996, before returning five and a half years later as manager.

He nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed his eight years at St Andrew's, and therefore his acrimonious departure for Wigan in November 2007 still rankles.

Bruce left City amid uncertainty over his future and found himself embroiled in a war of words with the regime which has recently been dismantled in the wake of Carson Yeung's takeover.

The Black Cats boss said: "That's the sad thing for me, the way it ended. I had two years as a player, six as a manager.

"When I first went there under Trevor Francis, I remember getting changed in a tent, chasing off ducks to try to train - we didn't even have our own kit.

"I had eight years there and I really enjoyed it, but it disappointed me the way it finished, it really did." Bruce will return to the Midlands without key midfielder Lee Cattermole, who is facing up to three months on the sidelines with knee ligament damage.

Birmingham vs Sunderland

Last modified 22:35 24/10/09

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It's he year of the Ox for Birmingham’s new Chinese owners. But forAlex McLeish it could be the year of the dog.

The little dog, actually. That’s the meaning of Chucho, the nickname of his Ecuadorian striker Christian Benitez.

And yesterday McLeish finally let the South American star off his leash – and he left Steve Bruce barking mad!

Bruce got a great reception from the Blues fans, where he spent eight years in charge, but that was the end of anything good for his afternoon.

McLeish, harangued by fans for his  negative approach at the last home match, took a totally different tack to mark the St Andrews game with his new Hong Kong-based bosses.

He picked Benitez, Cameron Jerome and James McFadden in the same starting side for the first time and was rewarded with a thrilling three points.

Liam Ridgewell’s first-half header from a Seb Larsson free kick was followed by a brilliant finish from James McFadden three minutes after the break and Blues could have had even more.

“Judging by the performance today, Chucho is going to be a star,” said a delighted McLeish.

“Not only does he create things for himself, he creates things for others and he will take a bit of watching from the centre halves he will face.

“It was the right day to go to a more attacking formation and we had the personnel to do it. It was a much more fluent performance.

“I accept that in the last couple of games when you pick a different shape at home you will come in for criticism.

“But today it got the crowd at it, the players wanted it, and I think the fans sensed it was the start of something new.”

Chucho’s terrier-like display spread panic in Sunderland’s defence and it took a great block by Kieron Richardson to stop McFadden scoring.

Only a brilliant save by Craig Gordon stopped the stocky striker celebrating only his second Premier League start with his first goal.

And he was robbed again when referee Martin Atkinson blew for a foul by Phil Bardsley on McFadden instead of letting advantage go as Benitez skipped away from Anton Ferdinand.

Blues at least got their just deserts because Ridgewell’s header went in from the free kick that followed.

And they looked out of sight when McFadden ran on to Jerome’s clever flick and calmly stepped around Bardsley to finish.

Sunderland, so bright and brilliant beating Liverpool last week, only played with anything like conviction for the last ten minutes after home keeper Joe Hart’s mistake had presented them with a goal they didn’t deserve.

Hart, on loan from Manchester City, came flapping out to try to reach Andy Reid’s free kick, only for Michael Turner to get there first and loop a header towards the empty net which Scott Dann could only help on its way.

Darren Bent almost rescued a point as he steered Reid’s deep cross an inch the wrong side of the far post.

But that would have been an injustice, as Bruce admitted.

“We didn’t come to the party until the last half an hour,” he said. “You can’t play in the Premier League with seven or eight who are not at it.

“I have got to put my finger on why it is that the same thing has now happened at Burnley and Stoke as well as here.”