FORMER Newport County AFC manager James Rowberry has returned to club football as assistant to Mark Robins at Stoke City.

The 40-year-old will carry out his duties with the Championship club alongside working under Craig Bellamy with Wales.

He has, however, left his role as head of elite coach education at the Football Association of Wales.

Rowberry was first-team coach at Cardiff before taking the reins at County after the departure of Michael Flynn in 2021.

He led his hometown club on a promotion bid in his first season in charge only to suffer a poor run-in that carried into the next campaign, leading to his departure after less than a year in charge.

Rowberry finished with a record of played 52, won 21, lost 22, drawn 9.

Wales assistant James Rowberry (Pic by John Smith/FAW)

He then worked with the FAW and then was brought into the national set-up by Bellamy last summer.

He will try to help the Potters climb the table and also assist in Wales’ bid for the World Cup, with qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Macedonia in March.

Robins has signed a three-and-a-half year contract at the bet365 Stadium and becomes Stoke’s third manager of the season following the dismissals of Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach.

There was widespread shock when Robins was sacked by Coventry in November after nearly eight years in charge, during which time he led the club to two promotions, the Championship play-off final and the FA Cup semi-finals.

He has been brought in by Stoke along with Rowberry and fellow assistant Paul Nevin.

“Welcoming two assistant managers of such calibre and with such innovative and progressive mindsets in Paul and James is another important part of how we will seek to progress and grow," said sporting director Jon Walters.