'He is a great man' - Blackburn Rovers star waxes lyrical about Tony Mowbray ahead of Sunderland clash

Mowbray is set to return to Ewood Park for the first time since his departure at the end of last season when his Sunderland side face Blackburn Rovers in the Championship this evening.

The 58-year-old spent five years at Blackburn, winning promotion from League One and stabilising the club in the Championship

“I hope he gets a good reception because he’s done great things for this club,” Gallagher told the Lancashire Telegraph. “I’ll be looking forward to seeing him, but it will also be nice to get one over on him.

“He’s done loads (for me) as a man and a manager. I can’t say a bad word about him, the belief he had in me and I think the boys can say the same.

“The signings he made, loans or players he’s brought in, it’s been people who can help the club and who have tried to do the best for the club.

“Overall he is a great man and that’s what I respect the most about him.”

Mowbray left Blackburn Rovers after the 2021-22 season ended when his contract at Ewood Park expired and was replaced by ex-Newcastle United man Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Gallagher added when asked about how much Blackburn’s failed promotion push under Mowbray had impacted the dressing room under Mowbray: “A lot, and it was just as much as us wanting to do it for me as it was us doing it for ourselves and the club.

“He had so much belief in everyone and you knew he wanted the best for us. When it came to that point last time when we knew we’d missed that opportunity, everyone was gutted.

“It was a shame but everything has to move on and move with the times and that’s what happens. When you look at any manager, a physio, a player, to have that much time at one club doesn’t happen too much anymore.

“For him to have been at the club for such a long time and improving every year, it shows what a great manager he was.”