Gary Bowyer has landed the permanent managerial position at Salford City.

The club have appointed Bowyer, who had an 11-game spell as interim boss, on a two-year deal.

Bowyer had been employed by Derby County, working with their Under-23s side, a role he took on last September, and it was expected that he would return to Pride Park after his spell with the Ammies.

However, the club have appointed him as a permanent successor to Richie Wellens after guiding the club to 20 points from their final 11 games, enough to see him named as League Two manager of the month for April.

The club missed out on the play-off spots by two points, despite a final day win at Leyton Orient, but his impact was enough to earn him a crack at the job full time.

Bowyer was delighted at the news, and thanked Derby County, and Wayne Rooney, for allowing him the opportunity.

“I’m really excited, it’s all happened very, very quickly and I’m delighted that it has,” Bowyer said.

“I have to thank Wayne Rooney and Derby County for their role that they have played in all of this, they’ve been magnificent for me. 

“Now it’s a case of getting to work very quickly, everybody was very accommodating when I was here and made a real impression on me in the short space of time so it was a very easy decision.

“We’re really excited now leading into the summer, obviously there is a lot of work to do in terms of organising pre-season games, getting to work on the squad. 

“We’ve got a real good core group here, and we’ll be looking to add the right characters and the right players to hopefully improve the squad further and give us a real opportunity going into next season.”

It is 15 months since Bowyer left Bradford City, his last managerial stint, after two years with Blackpool between 2016 and 2018.

Those are Bowyer’s two managerial posts since leaving Rovers in November 2015, having first taken on the role in March 2013, taking charge of 127 matches, winning 44, drawing 46 and losing 37.

The 49-year-old had previously held roles within the club’s Academy, and had a four-game caretaker spell in the 2012/13 season before taking permanent charge after the departure of Michael Appleton.