Steven Caldwell preparing to face Hugo Viana

Blues defender Steven Caldwell believes there are a number of reasons a player and friend he is charged with stopping tonight failed to make it in the English game.

Birmingham face last season's beaten Europa League finalists Braga at St Andrew's in the first game of their Group H campaign, with Hugo Viana one of the mainstays of the visitors' side.

Viana shot to prominence when former Newcastle manager Sir Bobby Robson signed the midfielder in June 2002 for £8.5m at the tender age of just 19.

As a Portugal Under-21 international, and very highly rated, it was believed Viana would be a resounding success.

However, Viana managed just 28 starts and four goals in two seasons before returning to Sporting on a year-long loan in 2004 and a move to Valencia a year later.

Caldwell, who played alongside Viana in the Magpies side at that time, said: "Newcastle is a very strange club to play for, a magnificent club, and it's probably still my team. I love the place.

"But there is pressure in playing for a team like that. Everywhere you go people are in your face.

"I would assume that would be difficult for a 19-year-old boy from Portugal coming in with such a big price tag and a lot of pressure to perform."