Blue Rooney on secret mission

THE Chris Hughton era at Birmingham City begins in earnest at Turner’s Cross tonight (kick-off 7pm) as the Championship side take on Cork City in a pre-season friendly.

The Blues were dramatically relegated from the Premier League on the final day of last season and a traumatic summer got even worse when Alex McLeish quit the club to join bitter rivals Aston Villa.

Inevitably, Birmingham lost key players over the summer but new boss Hughton has brought in some shrewd replacements.

One of them is Adam Rooney.

The Dubliner joined the Blues from Scottish outfit Inverness, with whom he scored prolifically in recent seasons.

He believes he can continue to thrive at Birmingham but refuses to reveal what his goal target for the season is.

“I usually set myself a goal target but I never tell anyone,” he laughs. “I’ve got faith I can score at any level. If I get chances, I’m confident that I’ll stick the majority of them away.”

Both Rooney and fellow Irishman, Cork-born goalkeeper Colin Doyle, say the aim this season is securing an immediate return to the top flight, although they admit it will be a tough ask.

“I think everyone realises how competitive a league it is, you’ve seen it over the last few years even just watching it on tele,” says Rooney.

“There’s a lot of times pushing but obviously our aim is to go straight back up. I came here to get into the Premiership.”

Doyle adds: “I think it’s probably one of the toughest Championship leagues this season.

“You’ve just got to look at Leicester and the money they’re spending and the likes of West Ham and ourselves and Nottingham Forest — it’s going to be a really, really tough division but obviously we just do the best that we can, force our way into the promotion spots or play-offs and hopefully get promoted.”

That’s for future. For now the focus is on Cork City tonight and Doyle is delighted to be back in his home city.

“Coming back to Cork is nice. I’m looking forward to Saturday and hopefully we can get a good result. We know it’s going to be a tough test. We’re eight, nine days into pre-season and obviously Cork City are probably halfway through their season so we know it’s going to be a tough test,” he says.

Come 9pm tonight though, Doyle will revert to being a Cork City fan and he hopes that after a traumatic few years Tommy Dunne’s men can get back into the Premier Division.

“Last year they had a bit of a financial situation, but it’s obviously fantastic to see they’ve started back up and are obviously doing well,” he says.

“Hopefully they can get a few more wins, get to the top and get promoted.”