Birmingham are to reward goalkeeper Colin Doyle with a new contract after the Republic of Ireland U-21 international's heroics helped push the club to the verge of promotion back to the Premiership.

Doyle has been in impressive form since he replaced Northern Ireland number one Maik Taylor between the posts and yesterday produced an injury-time penalty save to earn a vital 3-2 win at Wolves.

He has already been linked with a move to Arsenal but Bruce is keen to reward the player for his contribution and will hold talks once it is known which division Blues will be participating in next season.

Bruce said of the Cork-born Doyle: "Colin has got a bright future ahead of him and there is no doubt that we want to keep him here. To keep someone of Maik Taylor's calibre out of the team means he must have something about him and he has done well.

"Although we need to know what division we are in before we start discussing contracts in detail, we will be sitting down with Colin, that's for sure."

Meanwhile, Doyle has hailed the influence of Birmingham goalkeeping coach Nigel Spink in helping him gain the number one spot.

Doyle has been working with Spink for the past six years since he joined Blues as a 15-year-old. Doyle said: "I arrived here when I was about 15 and Nigel has been there for the whole six years working with me. To be honest, he is the main reason I am in the team.

"If you ask him, he will tell you that when I came over here, I was just this mass of raw ability but with no proper goalkeeping training behind me. Spinky has done all the training and turned me into the goalkeeper I am today really. We get on extremely well and there is a lot I have to thank him for."