ASSISTANT Birmingham City manager Colin Calderwood insists he is with Blues for the long haul after linking up with Chris Hughton for the third time.

Sacked as Hibernian manager in early November, Calderwood would have probably not had to wait long before the offer of a job as number one came along from a lower-division club in England.

But when the 46-year-old took a call from Hughton, whom he knows well from their time at Spurs and Newcastle, asking him to become number two at St Andrew’s, he did not hesitate.

And now Calderwood intends to help Hughton build a big future for what he insists is a big club.

“The two main factors you look at are the level of the club and the person who is managing the club,” he said. “I looked at those two things and that’s why I was happy to forfeit waiting to see if a manager’s job came up elsewhere.

“Chris has given me this opportunity so I owe him a bit of loyalty. It’s not as if I am in the starting blocks looking for the next manager’s job to come up somewhere then off I go. This is my time to come to Birmingham and work properly.

“It has worked out terrifically well for me. I have landed at a very good club and it makes it easier working with people I know, not just Chris but Paul Trollope and Dave Watson who I have worked with before.