Bruce: I need to deepen Birmingham squad

Birmingham City boss Steve Bruce admits he needs to make several new signings before the summer window shuts.

He said: "The Mido thing looks dead in the water. We've tried to carry on with it and resurrect things but the more we try the worse it gets. If somebody becomes available and we can afford him, then we will try and act. But, at the moment, my priority has to be at the defensive end.

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"Mat Sadler has got a knock and we haven't really got anybody to replace him. In the centre-back area we've only got two at the moment, apart from Rafael Schmitz, who is also injured. So that's not very healthy either and we will be looking at those two positions."

On the Birmingham board, Bruce added: "They know, they are intelligent enough to understand that the strength of any team is the squad.

"I think we got promoted last season because of the firepower we had. When Nicklas Bendtner went down injured, for example, we went out and got Rowan Vine and Andy Cole. I think it's vitally important we have a few options up front, and all over the place.

"You can see that I am desperately trying to avoid what happened a couple of years ago when four or five got injured and we didn't have enough to cope, we didn't have strength in depth."