Birmingham boss Eustace has been a ‘great fit’ – Millwall boss Gary Rowett ready for a tough Championship encounter

Gary Rowett has described John Eustace as a “great fit” for Birmingham City, as the Millwall manager prepares to take his team to his former club on Wednesday night.

The Lions chief had 106 matches in charge of the Midlands club before leaving in December 2016.

Eustace succeeded former Charlton boss Lee Bowyer at Birmingham City last summer, signing a three-year contract in July.

The Blues are unbeaten in their last four home Championship matches and defeated high-flying QPR 2-0 on Friday night. They are 12th in the table.

“They have started really well,” Rowett told the South London Press. “John Eustace looks like he’s a really good fit for the club. He has gone in there and done a very good job, so far, to initially get that positivity from the fans back that they missed for a while.

“It feels like he’s got a real connection with them and he’s got a good group of players who are working incredibly hard, a little bit like ourselves. He’s had that initial stabilisation and got them quite well organised. You saw against QPR they are more than a match for anyone, particularly at home.

“It will be a tough game, like any other. We’ll have to try our best not to give sloppy goals away, let alone mis-hit crosses in the top corner [like in Saturday’s 1-0 reverse at Huddersfield], that would be nice. It always makes it hard when you go 1-0 down at these places.”