Steve Bruce has told Sky Sports that he did write the trio of detective novels that have taken the internet by storm Steve Bruce has told Sky Sports that he did write the trio of detective novels that have taken the internet by storm

Steve Bruce has confirmed to Sky Sports that he definitely wrote the trio of detective novels that have taken the internet by storm.

Earlier this week, Bruce's son Alex had quashed suggestions that the Aston Villa boss had penned the trilogy of books entitled Striker, Sweeper and Defender at the turn of the century during an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live.

But ahead of his side's trip to Birmingham on Sunday, Bruce exclusively revealed to our reporter Jonathan Oakes that it was indeed him who wrote the books starring Steve Barnes, the manager of fictional club Leddersfield Town who solves crimes in his spare time.

Unfortunately, however, he does not plan to write any more.

Jonathan Oakes: "I want to ask you about these murder-mystery novels that have surfaced..."

Steve Bruce: "They were 10 or 15 years ago, they are genuine!"

JO: "You didn't think about writing another one?"

SB: "No, have you read them? Go and read them and you'll understand why."

JO: "They're going for big money on Ebay at the moment..."

SB: "Are they really? Wow. That's because there were not many published. I think my son went out on Radio 5 and he didn't know anything about it. It was a long, long time ago and there'll be no more. I assure you!"

Hit play on the video at the top of the page to see Bruce discuss his novel-writing past