DAVID Dunn insists he bears no grudge towards Graeme Souness - even though he blames his former boss for forcing him out of Blackburn Rovers four years ago.

Souness accused Dunn of taking his eye off the ball' as their relationship deteriorated in the early months of 2003, and the midfielder eventually quit Rovers for Birmingham that summer after deciding he could no longer play for a manager who was making his life difficult.

At the time, Dunn held Souness directly accountable for pushing him out of the club he had supported all of his life.

But the 27-year-old has since come to terms with the circumstances surrounding his departure, and, after sealing a dream return to Rovers earlier this week, he now feels in a position to forgive the man he once regarded as a mentor.

"The situation I was in is well-documented - I didn't really want to leave," said Dunn.

"Everyone at the time said there was a big rift between me and Graeme Souness, but I never really fell out with him if I'm being honest.

"It just got to a point where he felt I needed to move on, and once you get that feeling about something then maybe it is better to go, and that's why I left.

"But there was no rift there and if I saw Graeme now I'd be fine with him.

"I think the only thing is I held it against him for a while, just because I was a Blackburn fan and I had to leave.

"If I saw him now, though, I'd have no problem at all. I'd speak to him. And I'm always grateful to him for giving me my first real chance.

"I know the managers before him played me as well, but it was only when Graeme Souness came in that I really got in and started to perform."

It's a sign of Dunn's maturity that he's able to draw a line under an episode in his career that, for a while at least, gnawed away at him.

It was clear from the outset that, deep down, he never wanted to leave Blackburn in the first place, and even on the day he was unveiled to the media by Birmingham following his £5.5 million move, he still spoke passionately of his desire to play for Rovers again one day.

When he returned to Ewood with Birmingham in November 2004 and scored in front of the Blackburn End during a six-goal thriller, the pain he felt was almost tangible.

"I always wanted to come back here in a strange way," said Dunn.

"It felt very strange not being here, especially when I was still coming to watch the games.

"And it was even more strange when I played against Blackburn - I scored at Ewood which was kind of weird as I didn't know where to put myself.

"But I always felt I would maybe come back one day, and I'm so glad I've got that chance."

Dunn is honest enough to admit he did a lot of growing up at Birmingham, having taken the decision to cut himself free from the apron strings.

He had always been close to his family, and in particular his grandad, David Snr, so it was a massive wrench to leave all that behind in Great Harwood and move to the Midlands, where he often felt lonely and isolated.

"The move to Birmingham did help me grow up a lot," said Dunn.

"As you get older, you get more mature anyway. But I think moving down there and learning to fend for myself made me grow up.

"I was used to my mum and my grandma doing everything for me back home.

"So I had to learn to cook, and do the domestic stuff - although there was a family next door who did quite a bit of that for me, so I was lucky in that sense.

"I'm much more focussed now on what I need to achieve, and where I want to be with my career.

"A year ago that maybe wasn't the case, but now I know what I want."

Apart from staying injury free, and rediscovering the form that once earned him an England call-up, Dunn just wants to be happy again - playing football for the club that he loves, in front of the people that he loves.

"The big thing for me is being back home with my family. Everyone knows I'm close to my family, and my grandad.

"It's been hard work because he hasn't been able to come to games (at Birmingham).

"He's getting older now and that travelling took its toll on me, so I'm sure it took its toll on him.

"But now he's only a stone's throw away, with two new hips (after hip replacement operations), so he should be happy."