Birmingham City midfielder Barry Ferguson knows there are doubts over his ability to cope in the Premiership after a difficult spell at Blackburn Rovers.

After an injury-plagued stay at Ewood Park, Ferguson opted for a return to the blue-half of Glasgow and continued his career north of the border.

But the 31-year-old claimed that he became an integral part of Rovers' team during that period, a fact he says many of the doubters are quick to forget.

Ferguson told the Daily Mail: "I know people are looking at it. They are saying: 'He had 20 months there, he was out for eight, so what did he prove?'

"I felt I was doing well but I picked up a bad injury at Newcastle. You can still see the scar on my left knee. And that's all they remember. After that, they saw I went back to Rangers.

"I don't want to defend myself or sound arrogant but when Souness left, Mark Hughes wanted to build the team around me.

"I was offered a contract extension, if the people at Blackburn thought that, I must have been doing something right."