Steve Bruce has admitted that Birmingham's medical team have turned to Arsenal and England physiotherapist Gary Lewin for advice regarding Matthew Upson's groin injury.

Blues' England international centre-half ironically sustained the injury against the Gunners during Arsenal's 2-0 win at St Andrew's on February 4.

Upson limped off two minutes from the end of that fixture and the centre half's own initial diagnosis was that rest would cure the problem.

He said: "It was an overuse injury. I had a bit of a blocked pelvis, which has related into muscle soreness.

"It isn't a big issue though, as I just need it to settle down."

However, the situation has lingered on and with Birmingham's defence looking decidedly shaky against Albion last Saturday, Bruce views the return of Upson as critical.

Birmingham's highly-rated physiotherapist, Neil McDairmid has been in contact with Arsenal's Gary Lewin.

Apparently, Upson's injury is not dissimilar to the one sustained by Thierry Henry whilst playing for France against the Republic of Ireland last year.

Henry limped off on September 7 and was back playing for Arsenal by October 18 and Birmingham have always fostered good relationships with Arsenal and Bruce will be keen to find out the treatment schedule undertaken by Henry.

"We thought Matt would be out for three weeks so now that it's six it has become a concern," admitted Bruce.

"Our physio has spoken to Gary Lewin at Arsenal.

"Whether it's the same injury as Thierry Henry's I really don't know. But I think our phsyio wants to do all the homework he can."

Upson is likely to be given a series of injections in his problematic groin area to avoid the need for an operation.

His pace and physical presence has been sorely missed by Birmingham since his absence and Bruce is desperate to thrust him back into the fray of a relegation battle.

However, Bruce was the recipient of better news yesterday as it appeared both Kenny Cunningham and Chris Sutton would be available for the fixture with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Cunningham is back in full training following a groin injury whilst Sutton, who has still yet to score for Birmingham, has returned from a hip injury.

Mehdi Nafti is also set to return to full training by the end of this week after sustaining a serious knee injury in August. However, Jiri Jarosik (hamstring) and Julian Gray (ankle) are unlikely to be fit until the trip to Old Trafford on Sunday 26 March at the earliest.

David Gold, the Birmingham chairman, has insisted that he "will not jump ship" if Birmingham are relegated and also assured manager Steve Bruce that his job is safe should the club lose their Barclays Premiership status.

Blues are in danger of losing their top flight spot after four seasons and they are still in the bottom three with ten games to go after Saturday's fortuitous draw with West Brom.

But Gold has pledged his future to City whatever division they are playing in in 2006-2007 and insisted Bruce would be given the chance to take the club back into the top flight.

Gold said: "Will I hang around if we go down? Absolutely. With greater determination. At the moment we are fighting for our lives to stay in the Premiership.

"Should that fail and we end up in the Championship, it is the same determination but it's a different set of rules - the determination to right the wrong would be what would take over.

"The pursuit to return to the Premiership would be as powerful a driving force as it is presently to stay up. Steve Bruce's job has also never been so secure.

"We are supporting the manager completely.

"He has got such a massive job to do. Although that involves saving the club from relegation, if we go down I promise you Steve Bruce, subject to contractual arrangements, will still be the boss at the beginning of next season."

As regards Birmingham's plight, Gold admitted: "This is probably the most important battle I have endured in my recent life. I am losing sleep over it.

"I cannot bear the thought of relegation because I will think I am related to failure and that is something I cannot cope with.

"Failure is a thing that haunts me."