Birmingham caretaker manager Eric Black has quit the Midlands club and intends to link up with Steve Bruce at Wigan.

It is understood Black ended his association with Blues earlier on Tuesday after a brief spell in charge as caretaker boss.

The way now appears clear for Birmingham to step up their plans to bring in Scotland manager Alex McLeish as Bruce's replacement.

Black was understood last week to be a strong contender to become Bruce's successor when the former Blues boss left for Wigan earlier this month, and he was in charge for Saturday's home game with Portsmouth.

But a meeting with the Birmingham board after the 2-0 defeat left Black with no assurances over his future and now he has decided to call time on his two-and-a-half-year spell at St Andrews.