Birmingham City's record signing Clinton Morrison has criticised former club Crystal Palace for freezing him out of pre-season training.
Blues manager Steve Bruce signed Morrison last week in a £4.25 million sterling deal that saw Andy Johnson head in the opposite direction to Selhurst Park.
But the Republic of Ireland striker is behind where he wants to be in terms of fitness, and is now struggling to be fit for the start of the Premiership season
Morrison said: "I thought it was well out of order to be honest. The manager and chairman told me they thought it was best if I stayed away from the club while the transfer was being sorted out.
"I found that Palace had suddenly put me on 'gardening leave' so, instead of training with them and playing in pre-season matches, I was working out in the gymnasium on my own.
"What it meant was that I was losing a little bit of pre-season fitness which I'm now having to build-up again at Birmingham. But my target is to play in the opening Premiership match of the season at Arsenal," Morrison said.