• Blackburn’s club doctor says procedure went well
• Manager should be back in charge for Liverpool game

The Blackburn Rovers manager, Sam Allardyce, is expected to be discharged from hospital tomorrow after undergoing heart surgery today, the club have confirmed.

Allardyce, 55, underwent an angioplasty, a procedure to correct narrowing to one branch of his coronary arteries.

The Blackburn club doctor Phil Batty said: “The procedure has gone well and Sam is expected to be discharged from hospital tomorrow.”

Allardyce said: “I would like to thank everyone who has sent messages of goodwill and the entire cardiology team.”

The former Bolton and Newcastle manager, who has missed Blackburn’s last two matches, will be absent from the dug-out again tomorrow when Rovers host Stoke City at Ewood Park in the Premier League, with his assistant Neil McDonald again taking charge of the team.

It is not yet known whether the manager will be fit enough to return to his duties ahead of Wednesday’s Carling Cup quarter-final against Chelsea, although it is anticipated that he will be back in time for the Premier League game with Liverpool at Ewood Park on 5