Blues locked into Butt deal

Birmingham will have to buy on-loan Newcastle midfielder Nicky Butt if they cling onto their Barclays Premiership status.

Butt hit the headlines for the wrong reasons last Monday when he walked out of the Blues team hotel after not being included in the 16 for the league game at West Ham.

The former Manchester United star has since apologised for his actions, although it was not enough to stop him from being fined two weeks’ wages.

Butt faces a lengthy battle to win over the Birmingham fans who have been unimpressed with his contribution since arriving from St James’ Park in the summer.

But Bruce will have to keep Butt on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee if the midlands club can climb out of the bottom three in the final third of the season.

This may explain his decision to offer Butt an olive branch and to “draw a line” under his behaviour after finding out he was not even among the substitutes at Upton Park.

If Birmingham go down then Butt, who also struggled to make an impression in the north-east last season after moving from Old Trafford, will return to the Magpies.

Bruce had high hopes of Butt, a player he wanted to sign two years ago after agreeing a £5million fee with United, making a major impact this season.

But his former Red Devils team-mate had niggling injury problems from the start of the campaign and, when there were signs of him showing his best form, he was sent off against Portsmouth at Fratton Park and had to serve a four-game ban.

Bruce confirmed on Friday that Butt would be part of the squad for Sunday’s FA Cup clash with Stoke.