Birmingham manager Steve Bruce has praised the courage and bravery of his midfielder Aliou Cisse who lost 11 relatives in the recent Senegal ferry disaster. Cisse won the admiration of Bruce, his team-mates and supporters when he turned out for Blues at West Ham after the tragedy before returning home. Now the Senegal skipper is back in training with Blues and poised to return to action in Saturday's home Premiership clash with Manchester City after being ruled out of the derby clash against West Brom through suspension.
Bruce said: "He's been through such a tragedy. To lose 11 relatives in one go is horrific and we've done our best to help him every way we can. It took a lot to do what he did at West Ham but that shows the character he is and he would have demanded to play at West Brom if he hadn't been suspended. He wants to play again and I think he wanted to be back in our environment again and to get on with things. He's shown such great courage."
Filed by Shane Murray
