DAVID Dunn will have mixed emotions when he returns to St Andrew’s today for just the second time since he rejoined Blackburn Rovers.

Dunn, in his heart of hearts, knows he should never have left his Rovers in the first place.

But that does stop him having good memories of his three-and-a-half-year stay with Birmingham City.

However he admits they are tinged with regret that injury, and particularly the spinal surgery he underwent in the summer of 2005, prevented him from playing more for the Blues.

“I had a decent relationship with their fans and I really enjoyed my time at Birmingham,” said Dunn, who made the move back to Ewood Park in January 2007.

“The unfortunate thing for me and Birmingham was I couldn’t get on the pitch as much as I would have lived.

“Obviously I had my spine surgery down there which knocked me back a year or so, which was disappointing, but when I did get on the pitch I think my form was good.

“I’m looking forward to going down there and playing some part.”

Dunn, whose only previous visit to St Andrew’s with Rovers ended in a 4-1 defeat on the final day of the 2007-08 Premier League campaign, will be pushing for a start today after coming off the bench in Friday’s 0-0 home draw with Yeovil Town.

Birmingham go into the match on the back of a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday which left them just one point above the bottom three.

And Lee Clark’s side will be without their captain Paul Robinson after the veteran defender was hit with a three-game ban after he picked up his 15th booking of the season at the City Ground for an injury-time foul on Ben Osborn.

Blues boss Clark said: “He’s a huge loss. He’s been excellent for us.

“He tried to tackle the guy. I’m not going to stop somebody in my team trying to tackle.

“I think he’s been hard done by with a lot of the bookings because he’s very competitive in today’s game. In a tackle you will knock an opponent over.

“We’re without him now so I need some of my other players to step up to the plate.”