Coly beginning to flower - Bruce

Birmingham manager Steve Bruce believes on-loan Lens defender Ferdinand Coly is finally beginning to adjust to the demands of England football.

Senegal international Coly has had a testing time since he joined the Blues as one of Bruce’s six signings during the January transfer window.

He looked ill at ease in his two senior appearances against Fulham and Arsenal and was then hit by a foot infection.

But Coly is now back to fitness and starting to work his way towards the first team after impressing in the reserves.

Bruce told PA Sport: “Ferdinand has taken a bit of time to adjust since joining up with us.

“It is always a risk when you sign foreign players in terms of whether they can adapt and Arsene Wenger reckons it takes a foreign player a year to adapt.

“People find the English game strange. It is different to the way the game is played right across Europe.

“After 10 or 11 games Christophe Dugarry is still scratching his head and thinking ‘what is it all about?’ – and he has played all over the world.

“Ferdinand was excellent in the reserves for us last week and he is just starting to show what he is all about.”

But Coly will have to try to dislodge Blues skipper Jeff Kenna who has been a model of consistency at right-back during the current campaign and even defied an Achilles injury during the middle part of the campaign.

Defender Olivier Tebily is in line to return for the reserves in Wednesday’s home reserve e game with Blackburn.

He has been sidelined for four months since damaging knee ligaments in the home Premiership meeting with Charlton but the Ivory Coast international is now back in full training.