Lay-off my assistants says under-fire Irvine

Irvine claimed he should take the criticism for his side's poor form and revealed his players admitted to "letting staff down" after a seventh defeat in nine games.

Travelling supporters targeted Downing and Kelly with abuse and used the pair's links with arch-rivals Wolves in chants calling for their departure.

Both men played for Wolves and Baggies fans yesterday sang "You Dingle b******s, get out of our club."

Downing has served as assistant head coach to Roy Hodgson, Steve Clarke and Pepe Mel, while Kelly arrived at The Hawthorns as joint assistant when Irvine was appointed in the summer.

Irvine said: "I wasn't aware of it (the chant) but we are all in this together: the players and all the staff.

"The staff are great.

"I've said many times about how good the players are to work with, but the staff are great.

"When you hear players say they are letting the staff down – that was something that was mentioned in the dressing room by some of the players – that proves that they are right behind them.

"It's the kind of reaction I would expect from an honest group of players. They're extremely disappointed at what's happened. The players are fully aware of how well the staff work and how hard they work.

"If anybody is to take it then I'm the person that's standing there. I stand out there and I don't go and hide.

"I'm there to be shot at but obviously ultimately I make the final decisions and I certainly am happy to be prepared to take the criticism rather than Keith and Rob."

Irvine, Kelly and Downing were subjected to boos and criticism as they walked past travelling fans at the end of yesterday's game with the trio staring straight ahead and walking down the tunnel.