Steve Bruce has reacted angrily to criticism by Mark Hughes that blamed him and Blues for Robbie Savage's no-show at St Andrew's.

A gentleman's agree-ment struck at the time of his £3million transfer in January denied Savage the chance to face his old team and spared him the wrath of angry Blues fans.

Blackburn Rovers manager Hughes said he made a personal plea to Bruce to waive the agreement but was rebuffed.

Hughes said: "We at Blackburn felt Birmingham would have given us the chance to let Robbie play. But they didn't want to.

"They said it was a security issue, but that was never the issue. It was a footballing one.

"I phoned Steve on Friday and asked him about playing Robbie but he didn't want him to. He said it was a club decision and that he would abide by it.

"I thought it would have been an opportunity to put everything behind both clubs and to allow everybody to move on."

Hughes said that it had crossed his mind to pick Savage regardless.

He said: "Given different circumstances it's possible we would have forced the issue. To be honest, I thought beforehand that we had enough without Robbie.

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing and it turns out we perhaps could have done with his energy in midfield."

Bruce retorted: "The agreement was between the respective MDs, and that was final.

"It was like the agree-ment we had with Chelsea that we wouldn't play Mikael Forssell against them when he was on loan with us. It was the same with Liverpool over Salif Diao. So what's all the fuss about?

"I played with Mark for ten years but now we're in charge of respective clubs.

"We had an agreement, we were badly treated by his football club over the whole Robbie Savage thing. So why should we let him play, going against something they agreed to in the first place?

"This is nothing personal between me and Mark. It's the job we're in. Mark is just mistaken on the day he called me, it was Thursday, not Friday. If you want to get figures you will have to ask the MD what the police bill and all the rest would have been. But I think we were quoted an extra £50,000, or something in the region. If that's not a safety issue, I don't know what is."

I understand Blues had significant police intelligence warning of serious reprisals against Savage, who stayed at home in Cheshire as Blackburn lost 2-1.

At the time of the transfer, both clubs were struggling and the last thing Blues wanted was for one of their most effective players to help a rival team battling against relegation beat them.

Blues would have refused Savage's sale had Blackburn not said 'yes' to the gentleman's agreement.

A club insider said: "The board and management believe it was a clever piece of business. They wonder why didn't Blackburn protest there and then instead of bleat now?"

Hughes said Savage's inevitably hot reception at St Andrew's had simply been postponed.

He said: "We're now going to have to go through all of this again."

By then matters could have cooled. Savage might not even be of such concern to Blues fans or the team if the manager finds a better replacement.

Whether Bruce and Hughes will be talking when next season's fixture comes round remains to be seen.

The relationship between the two Man United legends, who were never close as players, is prickly.

Then there's the Mark Bowen situation, Hughes's close friend and the assistant Bruce sacked last summer.

It was noticeable Bowen hung back in the dug-out after the final whistle and Bruce didn't seek him out.