ROBBIE Savage has snapped angrily at Ivan Campo for getting him suspended.

The volatile Birmingham midfielder - man of the match in the Blues 2-0 victory over Wanderers - accused the Spaniard of deliberately setting him up for a booking when he hit a free kick straight at him before he could retreat the necessary 10 yards.

Savage, who now faces a two-match suspension for collecting 10 cautions, fumed: "I don't mind getting booked for a challenge, but not for a bit of nonsense from a fellow professional. It's a joke.

"It must be a foreign thing. But he's no need to do it because he's a fine player. I wish I had half his ability."

Savage also claimed Campo tried to get Bryan Hughes booked with gestures to referee Any D'Urso after he had been fouled by the Blues midfielder, but the Wales international revelled in his midfield role, hustling Jay-Jay Okocha to the point where the ineffective Wanderers captain was substituted

"I like playing against the best players in Britain and Okocha and Campo certainly fall into that category," he added. "But they didn't seem up for it. They were slow and lethargic and we could have had five or six."

Steve Bruce, who celebrated his 100th game in charge with a victory that took Birmingham up to fifth in the Premiership, described the booking as "harsh".

"Campo knew exactly what he was doing," he said, "and now Robbie misses two games, which is disappointing.

"I know he treads a fine line, but I said to the referee that was one thing I was disappointed with."

Otherwise Bruce was glowing in his praise of Savage's performance and his team's overall display.

"He was absolutely immense; he was the first player I signed and he epitomises the spirit we have here," he said of the player opponents love to hate.

"He was too much for Okocha and caught him on the ball five or six times. I thought we were worthy winners

"It was possibly a good time to get Bolton, we all know that, but we looked quite comfortable and we should have won by more, if I'm being completely honest."

Although only in their second season of Premiership football Birmingham now have their sights on Europe, encouraged by an eight-match unbeaten Premiership run. But Bruce is setting no targets.

"We've reached dizzy heights with two thirds of the season gone," he added, "and, although people will say we've over-achieved, it is no fluke.

"Our aim in the final third is to finish as high as possible. At the moment we are on a high and buzzing. Everyone talks about Europe and, while we have our tails up, who knows what we can achieve. This was my 100th game and we've come a long way since the first one."

"We bought the kind of player 18 months ago that would make our team very difficult to beat. Savage was the first one and we built around him."