Birmingham's Tony Mowbray discusses Sunderland spell, club's recruitment and makes Middlesbrough reference

Tony Mowbray has praised the people of Sunderland for the support they showed him as he prepares to face his former club.

Mowbray was named manager of Birmingham in January, just over a month after he was sacked by the Black Cats, with the two sides preparing to face each other at St Andrew's this weekend. Following his appointment at the Stadium of Light in August 2022, Mowbray, a former Middlesbrough captain and manager, led Sunderland to the play-offs last season, while he namechecked players such as Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts ahead of Saturday's match.

“The people of Sunderland were amazing to me considering I lived, played football for 12 years, and managed for three years the team (Middlesbrough) 30 miles down the road, which were big rivals,” said Mowbray in his pre-match press conference. “The people of Sunderland supported me amazingly well and hopefully we gave them a team that they enjoyed for 15 months. We tried to win games, tried to score goals, tried to be aggressive and play on the front foot. We had some wonderfully talented players like Clarke and Roberts.

“The recruitment at Sunderland has been very good over the period and they have some good footballers. My total allegiances are to Blues and we will be going out there to try and win a football match at the weekend. We want to make life as difficult for Sunderland as we can and, unfortunately for them, hopefully send their supporters back to the North East without any points.”

Birmingham are expecting their biggest crowd for five years at St Andrew's, with the club sitting six points above the relegation zone following Tuesday's 1-0 win over Blackburn.

"It will only be special for us if we are ultra competitive, making a real game of it, putting them on the back foot, putting them under pressure," Mowbray added. "Obviously they have lost midweek, having managed Sunderland that really heightens their adrenaline levels. It's very difficult for Sunderland to lose two or three on the bounce with the expectation of 46,000 expecting. The players will come with a real intensity I'm sure. We have to be ready to match that."