Moyes comes to defence of Weir after Vogts' attack

David Moyes, the Everton manager, is to contact the Scottish Football Association to demand an explanation for the criticism his defender David Weir has suffered since Scotland's Euro 2004 débâcle in the Faroe Islands.

Moyes, a Scot himself, is clearly not happy with claims, attributed to the Scotland coach, Berti Vogts, that the experienced Weir was partly responsible for the surprising away draw with the Faroes.

Vogts was reported to have said: "The older players like Christian Dailly and David Weir who play in England, have already disappointed me. They were to blame for the first two goals, it wasn't the youngsters."

"I will be writing to the SFA to make my views clear," Moyes said. "I prefer to do my business in private and not in the media."

Moyes has already felt the need once this week to defend Weir when Vogts talked about "mistakes by his older players".

Moyes said: "David is a fantastic pro, and he has done brilliantly for me. People who have seen him play for Everton know he has been fantastic. Maybe you should look at the circumstances of what happened to Scotland before you make any comments about him."

Everton feel that one of their senior and most respected players – Weir is also the club's Professional Footballers' Association representative – has been made a scapegoat for Scotland's dreadful recent run. But Moyes diplomatically said: "All of our players are delighted to play for their country."

The SFA's chief executive, David Taylor, has not been able to speak to Vogts about the alleged criticism of the players.

"I haven't spoken to Berti as we have had so much going on," Taylor said. "I have read the press comments myself and Andy Mitchell [the SFA's press officer] has been dealing with that so I can't comment."

Mark Bowen has insisted that there has been no fall-out with the Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce over having to terminate his involvement with the Welsh national team. Bowen has been working as Mark Hughes' No 2 with Wales for the past two years but is now required by City to concentrate 100 per cent on his duties with the Midlands club now that they are back in the top flight.

But Bowen is at pains to point out that he understands the position and has had no dispute with the Birmingham manager. "Steve Bruce is one of my best friends in football and we have always had a good relationship," he said. "There is no fall-out with him about the Wales issue, not one cross word has been exchanged. The situation with Wales is that I am disappointed because I have been doing the job with them for the past two years but Birmingham City has to be the priority."

Millwall have signed the Southampton striker Kevin Davies on a month's loan. The 25-year-old is set to make his debut for the Lions at Portsmouth today.

Tommy Mooney has joined Stoke City on a three-month loan deal from Birmingham City. The 31-year-old striker will go into Steve Cotterill's squad to face Burnley today.