Birmingham City - Steve Bruce

Birmingham manager Steve Bruce is to exercise patience and prudence in the transfer market this summer in contrast to last season's frenzied spending spree.

He was one of the most active managers in the transfer market just under a year ago, quickly signing Emile Heskey, Muzzy Izzet and Julian Gray within weeks of the season drawing to a close.

On this occasion, however, Bruce is determined to bide his time before making a splash and hopefully landing the three quality additions to the squad he is looking for.

He is predicting many others will approach the closed season with caution before spending any money and he said: "I would expect a lot of clubs to be patient this year.

"Last year I was very active, very quickly, with Muzzy, Emile and Julian in the bag by the end of May, but I don't think that will be the case this year.

"I have a list of players I would like to sign this summer, but it is not a big list, and certainly not as big as last summer's list. There are possibly three players on it, with the emphasis on quality rather than quantity, but I think we'll keep the money where it is for a little bit."

Bruce also feels the bigger Premiership clubs will dictate the market during the summer, which in turn will play a part in his decisions and actions.

He is known to be interested in Chelsea duo Scott Parker and Mikael Forssell and hinted at possible interest elsewhere among the division's bigger clubs.

"To a certain extent I think we'll be governed by what the big clubs do first," Bruce added on the club's website. "We're in a situation now where to get better and to add to the squad, we've got to be looking at the bigger teams.

"We'll look at what the Chelsea situation is, what the Newcastle situation is, and Tottenham have got 40-odd players on their books. But I'm sure all the other managers will be looking at the same thing."