Preston warn Baggies off Irvine

Preston chairman Derek Shaw has told West Brom not to bother making any approach for manager Alan Irvine.

The Baggies are searching for a new boss after Tony Mowbray joined Celtic, in the wake of their relegation from the Barclays Premier League.

Irvine has won many admirers since taking the helm at Deepdale in November 2007, first keeping the club in the Coca-Cola Championship and then guiding them to the play-offs last season.

The former Everton assistant boss is reported to be a prime target for West Brom as they look to replace Mowbray, but Shaw insisted there had been no approach and added losing the Scot would be “a disaster”.

Shaw told his club’s official website: “I want to assure supporters that as I give this interview, first thing on Friday morning, we have not had any contact from West Bromwich Albion over the services of Alan Irvine – and we do not want any.

“If any calls came in then the decision would be down to the manager himself, if the terms of his contract were met, but this is something we would vehemently oppose.”

The news comes just a day after Cardiff chairman Peter Ridsdale and St Johnstone chief Geoff Brown insisted neither club had been contacted about the availability of respective managers Dave Jones and Derek McInnes, also front-runners for the West Brom position.