Gary Rowett: 'Lee Carsley will be passionate as Brentford head coach'

Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett has suggested that his former Derby County teammate Lee Carsley will be passionate as head coach at Brentford.

The 41-year-old was appointed as Marinus Dijkhuizen's successor on Monday after the Dutchman was sacked with the Bees sitting 19th in the Championship table, but Rowett believes that Carsley may struggle to convey his own passion for football on a Brentford squad consisting of nine different nationalities.

"I played with Carso for about three years at Derby and got to know him really well," Rowett said at a press conference. "He's a really committed guy.

"I think he'll manage how he plays - very passionate, will want his team to work incredibly hard like he did as a player, I'm sure will want his team to be fully committed like he was as a player.

"I think the challenge for Lee and for everyone is that you've got a different set of players to do that with. You probably haven't got a predominantly British group there at Brentford because of the way they've recruited, so it's gonna be how quick can he impart that on a different group of players."

The two sides will meet at Griffin Park in their Championship clash this evening.