Wayne Rooney will take time to recover from the pain of his abrupt sacking by Birmingham, according to his replacement Tony Mowbray.
The former England captain was dismissed by Blues after just 15 games in charge, during which he won only twice and the club slipped from sixth to 20th in the Championship.
Mowbray is a proven leader in the Championship who led West Bromwich Albion to promotion in 2008 and Birmingham hope he can do a similar job.
‘I haven’t spoken to Wayne but I am pretty sure he will be hurting,’ said Mowbray.