Steve Bruce bemoans the lack of opportunities given to up-and-coming English managers in the Championship

The Sheffield Wednesday chief made the admission ahead of the Owls' Championship encounter with Reading.

The Royals, languishing in the lower reaches of the second-tier, turned to Portuguese boss Jorge Gomes to replace Paul Clement before Christmas.

It was a leftfield appointment and Gomes, a former assistant manager of FC Porto and Spanish side Malaga, has so far struggled to turnaround their fortunes. Reading are currently third-from-bottom, one point adrift of safety.

"There's a lot of foreign ownership in the Championship and when that happens they tend to go towards a foreign manager or head coach," said Bruce, who proved adept at leading clubs to promotion to the top flight, guiding both Birmingham City and Hull City to the Premier League twice. "We see it more and more in the Championship.

"I worry for us English ones, especially the younger ones because the opportunities seem to be limited. It is a worry for our game going forward.”

There are just five English managers in the Premier League and only 15 out of the 24 Championship teams are managed by Englishmen. Bristol City's Lee Johnson is the youngest English manager in the second-tier at 37.

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Bruce stressed: "I have got nothing against the foreign coaches. As I said many, many years ago, Arsene Wenger (former Arsenal manager) has got a lot to answer to because I think a lot of clubs looked and thought 'we are going to get a foreigner like him in!'

"The fella almost single-handedly brought in the foreign influence, certainly in my career anyway. He was totally unique and different and yet how many foreign coaches are we now seeing?

"We are probably seeing the best coaches in the world in (Pep) Guardiola, (Jurgen) Klopp and (Mauricio) Pochettino and people like that. We have got the best coaches in the world plying their trade in England."

New arrivals Dominic Iorfa, Rolando Aarons and Achraf Lazaar could feature in Bruce's first home match in charge of the Owls. Loanee Josh Onomah (hamstring) is ruled out.

Bruce said: "You are always excited for your first home game. You want to get off to a good start and three points. That always makes it more enjoyable but I'm under no illusions.

"There is a big job ahead. I'm looking forward to the challenge of it and I can't wait to get started."