Birmingham City manager Lee Clark says he is relishing the chance to test himself as a manager against his former club Fulham for the first time.
The Blues boss spent a successful six-year spell as a player with the Cottagers between 1999 and 2005 and he still holds extremely fond memories of his time at Craven Cottage.
“It’s a special day for me, as it’s the first time I’ve come up against my old club as a coach or a manager,” said Clark.
“It’s well-documented the terrific time I had there. We had a lot of success as a club and had some great days. We won the Intertoto Cup and won promotion from the Championship to the Premier League.
“We also got some great results at places like Old Trafford and Highbury and achieved our highest ever finish in the Premier League until a few years ago when they beat that. It was a terrific time in my career for me and my family.”
Clark admits he is saddened by his former club’s poor start to the campaign, but he hopes it continues until at least Saturday evening.
“I want them to have an upturn in their fortunes starting from five o’clock on Saturday evening,” he said. “I want us to beat them and get three points on the board for our own good.
“It’s a fantastic football club with great people and I want them to do well. But on Saturday my allegiances are 100 per cent with Birmingham and I want to get the three points to get our season moving forward.
“I was at their game on Tuesday (when they beat Doncaster Rovers 2-1) and we saw some good things, but also things we think we can exploit and work on against them.”
