Birmingham boss Steve Bruce has lashed out at the 'nonsense' yellow card which will rule Robbie Savage out of two vital games in the Blues' Premiership relegation scrap. The combative midfielder was cautioned by Matt Messias after 30 minutes of yesterday's 1-0 defeat at Manchester City for taking a free-kick too quickly and he will not play against Tottenham (April 5) or Sunderland (April 12).
'It is a nonsense of a rule,' seethed Bruce, Effectively he has booked Robbie for looking to seek an advantage when a free-kick is supposed to be our advantage,' he said.
The Birmingham manager has also claimed that Christophe Dugarry was provoked into spitting towards Aston Villa midfielder Joey Gudjonsson by a verbal attack from the Icelandic player. Dugarry is likely to face an FA charge this week as a result of his actions in the derby with Villa earlier this monthand he could face a three-match ban.
Bruce had already defended Dugarry before but he has now admitted that the Frenchman did spit at Gudjonsson, but not with the intention of hitting him.He also claimed that the incident was a 'Gallic gesture' of frustration.
Filed by Brendan Cole
