More in the Times:
simmering sense of injustice will prevent Mark Hughes dwelling on the plight of his former Manchester United team-mate and captain Steve Bruce at St Andrew's tonight, although it is doubtful the Blackburn Rovers manager would have sympathy for Birmingham City's relegation struggle even if consumed by the joys of spring.
It may come as a surprise to those who witnessed United's first championship triumphs under Sir Alex Ferguson but Hughes does not share with Bruce, or the equally imperilled Bryan Robson, a bond that was once so evident on the pitch.
With the obstinacy that has helped to confound Ferguson's prediction that the more obvious leadership qualities of Bruce and Robson would prosper in management, rather than the studious Welshman, Hughes is too preoccupied with guiding Rovers into Europe to concern himself with the troubles of Birmingham or West Bromwich.
"I don't particularly keep in touch with him [Bruce].
"He was a team-mate - but then so was Bryan Robson. I had a lot of team-mates. We are not on the phone every other week, though, because that is not the kind of relationship we have. I look at this as a good time to be playing Birmingham. Players can sometimes be affected when you are down at the wrong end of the table and that anxiety can be transferred between the players and the crowd."