Birmingham believe they do not have to seek Carson Yeung's approval to appoint a new manager once Steve Bruce has departed for Wigan Athletic after all.

They have taken legal counsel about what could have been a major stumbling block to their hopes of putting his successor in place as soon as possible.

They were concerned that Yeung would have the power of veto over an appointment, like he did when he put the block on Bruce's new contract.

As the largest single shareholder and with Blues in a 'takeover period', he had to be consulted about a material change to a current employee's deal.

It raised the prospect of Blues being unable to name their new manager until after December 20 - the deadline given to Yeung to complete his takeover - assuming Yeung fails to come up with the goods, as the board feels is increasingly likely, reports the Birmingham Mail.

A source close to the board said: "They have had this checked out by top lawyers and they have been told that if they are without a manager, they can go ahead and appoint a replacement, Carson Yeung cannot stop them.

"It is apparently a different scenario to changing an existing contract, which was the case with Steve Bruce."

Yeung was due to meet with his advisors on Monday to discuss the chain of events at St Andrew's and Bruce's decision to quit, which has shocked them.

Last week, Blues board refused their request for more time to raise the necessary funds to complete the £50 million buyout.