Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett says he does not want the return of former manager Lee Clark to affect his players when they clash with Blackpool on Tuesday.
Clark was in charge of the Blues from June 2012 to October 2014, and returns to St Andrew’s for the first time this evening.The Tangerines beat Birmingham 1-0 in December, which was Clark's first win in his new job, but successor Rowett is keen to avoid the emotion of the occasion this time around.
“I have spoken to Lee a few times and had some good conversations with him in fairness" he said.
"He has been quite helpful towards me and certainly not had anything bad to say about the club.
“He has always been really positive about his time here and said what a great club it is.
“I am sure he will be hugely motivated to get his players up for this game and see if they can get a win that will not only give them a glimmer of hope in their battle, but also a little bit of pride that he has beaten Birmingham twice this season.
“We have got to make sure that doesn't happen and we've got to be ready for what we think will happen – a very quick, physical game.”
“We’ve got to go out and put a good, controlled performance in and not let the emotional side of things take over where we just end up playing the occasion because it’s Lee coming back."