Birmingham City boss Steve Bruce says he'll continue to shop abroad.

As many as eight English players will start for Aston Villa today against the Blues, but Bruce insists: "I would love to be able to do that here, but if you're going to buy the best English talent, and you're going to buy young, it costs you.

"It looks as though Martin [O'Neill] is trying to do that, but to do it you need dough, because we're not producing them like we used to. There's an argument they're not getting a chance, but look at the best young players in the Championship, who might be able to play in the Premier League, and where are they? You could maybe come up with a couple of possibles, but not many certainties. And yet we've all spent fortunes on academies."