match, Manager Steve Bruce praised his performance, saying: "David Dunn proved he had some real, real quality with the spotlight on him and such a big crowd. He's rushed to get the ball (for the penalty). He's got something about him and he's a special player." Two weeks later on 30 August, Dunn scored his second goal of the season, in a 1–0 win against Newcastle United. During a 0–0 draw against local rivals, Aston Villa on 19 October, he attempted to do the Rabona pass, only for it to backfire. Dunn later spoke about his embarrassing incident on numerous occasions. Since the start of the 2003–04 season, he started in every match until a niggling hamstring sustained in February meant that Dunn spent much of the second half of his first season on the side-line. At the end of the 2003–04 season, Dunn made twenty–two appearances and scored two times in all competitions. The beginning of his second season saw Dunn continuing to recover from his injury. It was not until on 18 September 2004 when he returned to the first-team, coming on as a 61st-minute substitute, in a 1–1 draw against Charlton Athletic. Dunn quickly re-established himself in the heart of the Birmingham midfield and chipped in some vital goals despite suffering from injury along the way. However, a recurrence of Dunn's hamstring problems in November limited him to just a handful of performances for the remainder of the season, and kept him out of the side until midway through the following season. At one point, he thought about retiring from football because of the injury. At the end of the 2004–05 season, Dunn made twenty–eight appearances and scored two times in all competitions. The 2005–06 season saw Dunn continuing rehabilitating from his hamstring injury. It was not until on 16 October when he returned to the first-team, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss against rivals Aston Villa. However, Dunn's return was short–lived when he suffered a calf injury while training and was sidelined for a month. Ultimately, Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League, with Dunn still not returning to fitness. Amidst injuries, he went on to score three goals during the season, coming against Portsmouth, Reading and Wigan Athletic. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Dunn made nineteen appearances and scoring three times in all competitions. Ahead of the 2006–07 season,