Steve Bruce could soon be regarded as the Alan Whicker of the Premiership, as he clocks up the air miles in search of fresh blood for his injury-ravaged team.

Birmingham City's manager, who would be delighted to be left with only the bare bones in midfield, has not let an injury crisis detract him from his main goal.

He is convinced that when this latest spate of injuries finally clear up, his midfield should be able to take care of itself so is concentrating on bolstering his back line.

Norway was the destination for Bruce last week, as he flew to Scandinavia to watch the fixture between Brann Bergen and IK Start.

Brann's Austrian international, Paul Scharner, was reportedly one of Bruce's targets but his club's interest met with a lukewarm response from the centre-half.

However, Bruce will be jetting all over Europe, which should please club sponsors flybe, during the next three months to ensure he has all bases covered before the transfer window reopens once again.

He said: "We will be scouting all over Europe and it has been well-documented that I was in Norway last week. "One particular player has been mentioned (Scharner), but I went to watch two or three. I watched players in the Start team, as well as Brann Bergen's.

"There is plenty on offer to see and we are looking all over Europe to try to find the right players. "We now have a network of around ten people working for us - two in Europe - and there are certain positions we are targeting. "We are light defensively even though we have six midfielders out.

"If you put those back into the squad then we are covered in that area, so we are concentrating on defenders at present."

Bruce, who revealed that David Dunn is set to make his long-awaited comeback for the reserves against Middlesbrough next Monday, is adamant that Birmingham's more expansive style is also partially responsible for the goals against column being higher than usual.

Two old-fashioned wingers and a brace of forwards are in stark contrast to the trend of operating with only one striker that is permeating the Premiership.

Bruce is convinced that scouring Europe for players in their price-range is the best way forward while their evolution continues.

"One area we have got to improve is defensively," he said.

"We are playing with two wingers and two attackers, so we are leaving ourselves vulnerable, especially at home when teams are coming to play on the counter-attack.

"That is one thing we might have to address, as we are more open than we have ever been.

"However, we always knew that was going to be the case with the way we wanted the team to go.

"It is a fine dividing line and I believe we are going through a transitional period, which will take time before we get where we want to be.

"We are not expected just to stay in this division.

"We now need to try to improve and try to get to that next level if at all possible.

"We have got to be realistic, though, because we can't go and sign the real big superstars because a) we haven't got the money and b) they won't come.

"We have just got to be very careful, as we have seen clubs try to reach that next level and then come unstuck."