Mowbray was first team coach under George Burley in 2002-3 when Ipswich Town were in the UEFA Cup for the second consecutive season, and took charge of the team for a spell after Burley's departure in the October of that campaign.
The Tractor Boys had been relegated from the Premier League after struggling with the increased amount of games which European competition brings, and despite finishing fifth in 2000-1, they found themselves in Division One two seasons later but again in the UEFA Cup, this time by virtue of the Fair Play League.
And Mowbray, who later went on to manage Hibs and Celtic in European competitions, knows all about the potential pitfalls that Birmingham can face tomorrow. Chris Hughton's team picked up a 0-0 draw at Portuguese side Nacional, but Middlesbrough's manager believes that the travelling involved in pitching a battle in Europe may be too much for a team in the second tier to withstand.
He said: "When you come down from the Premier League, your squad size is is generally very different due to the finance involved, Ipswich had two European campaigns, then we had a year in Division One. The cup was in a different guise in those days, it was two legs, home and away as opposed to six guaranteed matches.
"We played Inter Milan, went to Moscow - but it was very difficult for us. It will be interesting to see how Chris Hughton utilises his squad. What are his aspirations - to go as far as you can in the Europa League or to get back in the Premier League
"Without telling him his job, I would assume that his main priority will surely be to get Birmingham City into the Premier League."
That said, Mowbray added that Birmingham should not 'disrespect' the Europa League, which they qualified for after beating Arsenal in the Carling Cup final.
He said: "An away result at any stage in Europe is a good result. I don't know what Chris's philosophy is regarding Europe - I heard him say the other day that he wants to take them as far as possible in that competition, but having managed teams in the Europa League I know how difficult that is.
"Come back, play on Sunday and keep the momentum going - it's difficult for the squad to deal with it and cope.
"I'm not sure how deep his squad is, but what I do know is to play in the Europa League, with six games guaranteed, it can take its toll.
"Would you want to be without it No. You strive all season to try and qualify for Europe, you shouldn't then disrespect it when you get to that position.
"It'll be interesting for a club in the Championship to qualify and to do well on their resources and size of squad."
After relegation from the top flight under Alex McLeish, Birmingham have seen first-teamers Ben Foster, Seb Larsson, Roger Johnson, Barry Ferguson, Kevin Phillips and Craig Gardner all exit from St Andrews, but Mowbray still recognises that the squad Hughton inheritited is capable of causing Middlesbrough problems.
He said: "Let's not get carried away, he's not lost a whole team there, they're missing Nikola Zigic and Cameron Jerome, but they have a strong defence, they have players who were playing against Manchester United and Chelsea last season, so they'll have that confidence of playing at a much higher level.
"Our job is to get three points and to make it a difficult time on the back of them travelling from Portugal and up to the North-East."
Seven points from a possible nine has seen Boro rise to second in the embryonic Championship table, and while Mowbray is well aware of his team's status, his focus lies solely on winning football matches.
He said: "I've always said as a manager that I'm not interested in the league table until Christmas time, and yet every time you switch Sky Sports News on it's there, in your face, you go to the breakfast table and the papers have them all.
"Without having an awareness or studying the table we understand that we have to keep winning games to get away from the bottom of the league.
"When you win one and lose one you go nowhere, we know from the end of the season that we have to win four on the bounce.
"It's the same at the top, you have to keep winning to stay at the top and if you don't you slide down,
"I'm not going to make any rash comments about our chances, but this league can be brutal when you lose back to back games.
"Hard work, preparation, team spirit, all go together to try and keep this boat pointing in the right direction."
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo