Bruce told the Wigan Evening Post: "I went to Peterborough, and I knew they needed money at the time under Barry Fry, who was a good friend of the Gold brothers.
"Barry, who was desperate to get some money in when he was the owner, came to us and said he'd got a young left-back called Tommy Williams who was taking all the plaudits at the time, and a decent midfield
player who was off-the-wall a bit but had great enthusiasm.
"He was valuing both of them at £250,000, and I went down there and took Tommy Williams instead of Jimmy, and that was a big mistake - not because I signed Tommy, but because I missed Jimmy."
Since injury hit just a month into his FUlham career Bullard has seen a huge upturn in form; culminating in being picked for Fabio Capello's England squad.