Birmingham claims bewilder Dunn

On the eve of Saturday's important Barclays Premiership clash with fellow strugglers Sunderland, David Dunn has launched a strong defence of Birmingham manager Steve Bruce and the club's players.

Dunn says he is "bewildered" by claims from some supporters that the Blues are lacking the necessary passion and commitment for the battle to stay in the top flight.

Dunn told the Birmingham Mail: "We haven't played as well as we would have liked, we're second from bottom in the league and it's a bad situation - but it's not down to a lack of effort, willingness or nobody simply not caring.

"I've heard things people have been saying, I've read some of the letters in the paper.... it bewilders me.

"I know it is probably a minority of people, and I perhaps shouldn't get involved. Whether I'm right to say what I'm saying, I don't know, but I'm prepared to stand by my opinion and judgement."

He added: "It's ridiculous that the manager is being questioned and is `under pressure'.

"He got the club promotion after so many years of failure before him, he got Birmingham to their highest league finish in 31 years (10th) and people tend to forget that he has the sort of personality that can attract big players.

"Personally, if Steve Bruce hadn't have been the manager here I wouldn't have signed for Birmingham. Quite a few others feel exactly the same.

"I knew Birmingham was a sleeping giant, with a great fan-base and wealthy owners, but the reason I came here was because of the manager, what he wanted to do and where he wanted to take the club."

Dunn continued: "People have been saying that you can't use injuries as an excuse for where we are but it isn't an excuse - its fact.

"When you have six senior first-team players out injured it does take its toll when you haven't got a big squad, which we haven't.

"Even at a club like Chelsea, if you take Lampard, Terry, Duff, Makelele and a couple of others who are important to them out, then they wouldn't be the same.

"Every club also has a spell when they have a bad time of it. We've seen that in the past with Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson when everyone wanted him sacked but they stuck by him - and I'm sure they are glad they did.

"I wish the fans could come down to the training ground and see just how the manager, the coaches, the lads are. I wish they could see how much it hurts us to be in the position we're in and how much we want to get out of trouble and start winning games.

"I've been relegated before and it is a horrible, horrible experience. I don't want to go through it again. But I'm not even thinking about that because there's no chance of it happening.

"I believe we have the best group of players this club has had for a long time, certainly since I've been here. Now we are getting people back from injury, it will make a big difference."