The Championship club are understood to have opened talks with former boss Gary Rowett as they attempt to arrest a slide towards League One

Birmingham City are considering bringing back former manager Gary Rowett as interim manager till the end of the season.

The St Andrew’s club is said to have begun negotiations with their former manager in an attempt to halt their slide towards League One. Permanent chief Tony Mowbray is recovering from sickness, so decision-makers have opted to act immediately.

The Second City club is outside the relegation zone on goal differential after earning just one point in six games under assistant Mark Venus.

However, the appointment of Rowett, who has vast experience managing in the Championship, most recently after a four-year stint at Millwall, is a late attempt to restore stability and propel the team towards safety.

The 50-year-old spent two years at St Andrew’s, taking over after an 8-0 home loss to Bournemouth and leading the club away from trouble.

And now Birmingham’s new owners, Knighthead, who oversaw a genuinely turbulent first season, will be hoping for a similar outcome.

The Americans have invested considerably in infrastructural projects, but their efforts to stimulate an upturn have been hampered by the decision to replace John Eustace with Wayne Rooney.

That odd move derailed the campaign’s momentum, and after only two victories in 15 matches, the former England great was replaced by Mowbray.

However, the 60-year-old withdrew from frontline management duties following Sunderland’s 2-1 defeat due to sickness, leaving a hole that Rowett appears to be filling until the end of the season.