Birmingham City manager Tony Mowbray is “getting stronger” after undergoing surgery which forced him to temporarily step down from leading the Championship club last week, assistant boss Mark Venus has said.
Mowbray, who left Sunderland earlier this season and became Blues manager in January, is expected to be replaced by Venus for between six and eight weeks following a medical diagnosis.
“I have had a chat with him every day,” said Venus. “He’s had his surgery and everything’s fine.
“He’s getting stronger, so he is on the way back, hopefully. I’m not saying immediately but it’s been nice hearing him and chatting to him. It’s given us a bit of confidence.”
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Having won their two previous matches, Birmingham lost their first game without Mowbray in the technical area 3-1 at promotion-chasing Ipswich Town on Saturday.
The Blues are three points clear of the relegation zone ahead of the visit of fourth-placed Southampton on Saturday and a trip to sixth-placed Hull City on Tuesday.
Birmingham players ‘up to date’ on Mowbray
Venus said the players had “kept asking” for the latest on 60-year-old Mowbray’s progress.
“I gave the lads a little update from him [on Thursday],” he said. “He’s getting stronger. We are keeping everyone up to date with it.”
Birmingham were in the play-off positions when the man who started the campaign in charge, John Eustace, was curiously sacked on October 10.
Manchester United record scorer Wayne Rooney replaced Eustace in a high-profile appointment with calamitous consequences for the club.
A dismal run of form across the 83 days Rooney spent in charge ended with the former England striker being sacked after 15 games on January 3.
Sunderland sacked Mowbray a month earlier after a run of two wins in nine league games which left the Black Cats outside of the play-off spots.
