- Rooney lost opening Birmingham game
- Team take on Hull City next
- Praise for Rooney ahead of match
WHAT HAPPENED? Rooney saw his Birmingham side beaten by a late goal against Middlesbrough in his first match at the helm but will hope to take all three points when the Blues return to action on Wednesday against Hull City. The game will see Rooney come up against Liam Rosenior, who worked alongside the former striker previously at Derby County, and has been full of praise for the new Blues boss.
WHAT THEY SAID: "Me and Wayne will forever be very good friends. Not just me and him, we had an unbelievable staff, Wayne, Justin (Walker) who is here, Pete (Shuttleworth) who is now with Wayne, Luke Jenkinson who was the fitness coach and went with Wayne to DC, myself, it was a team effort and Wayne was the leader of that team. He led us unbelievably and I don't think he, or us, get the credit that we deserve for what we had to manage in that period," he told Birmingham Live. "Maybe I'm going overboard with it. We got 55 points with two centre halves who were 38 and 40 and a group of kids. We got 55 points in the Championship. To talk about Wayne's win percentage tells a millionth of a story of how he managed that football club at that time. I have to say that his management and leadership, there's so many things I've taken from him and added to in my own way of leading and managing this football club."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Birmingham sit seventh in the table heading into the match and will be aiming to get back to winning ways against Hull. The Tigers are not in the best of form, having gone four games without a win ahead of the trip to St Andrew's.
IN ONE PHOTO:
GettyWHAT NEXT? Birmingham host Hull on Wednesday in the Championship and then head to Southampton on Saturday.
