It's a family affair for Nicky Shorey

Albion head for Old Trafford on Saturday looking to shock another of the Premier League's big four.

But defender Nicky Shorey will know exactly where to turn if things do not go as well at Manchester United as they did at Arsenal.

The former England full-back was always destined to make a living from football having been born into the game.

His father Steve, who offered a young Nicky his first taste of football when the Baggies man was a youngster, remains his son's closest mentor having spent his whole working life associated with the sport.

Shorey Senior was a promising player himself until illness and injury halted his playing progress in his tracks.

But, undeterred, he carved out a second career in football and gave his son the leg up that would eventually help his own talent propel him to the Premier League and the international stage.

Nicky said: "When I was growing up he was working in football at Leyton Orient and he took me and my brother there.

"I was nine at the time and my brother was 11. I was too young at the time but he took me anyway and I used to train with the older boys.

"So for as long as I have known I've been in and around a changing room with my dad coaching and being around a football club. I am quite privileged, because football has been my life since I was very small.

"He did play for Clapton and teams like that, but when he was 21 he got pneumonia and a bad knee injury and that knocked him for six. By all accounts he was a good player but he never had the luck that I did.

"I think he was a central midfielder and a centre half."

Shorey admits the presence of his father at Brisbane Road could be both a help and a hindrance in his younger days.

But, once Shorey Junior had made the grade as a professional, his dad, now chief scout at Reading, became a vital confident.

Nicky said: "You always get people saying you're only a club because your dad is there.

"People used to say that but there comes a point where you stand on your own two feet and everything my dad instilled in me hopefully stood me in good stead.

"I owe him a lot and my mum as well. He took me to Orient and then he followed me to Reading.

"Some people wouldn't like working with their parents and seeing them every day, but I loved it.

"It was nice for me to have him about and he keeps me sane when I don't have a good game.

"I can talk to him and he tells me where I've gone wrong and what I've done right.

"It's nice to have that sounding board to bounce off."

Shorey Senior still sees lots of his son in action despite his duties in charge of the Royals' scouting system.

Nicky joked: "Dad is now the chief scout but he seems to wangle it so whenever someone has to cover a West Brom game it's him!"

"He is quite good at that. He knows the game inside out and he is very good at his job.

"Now that Brian McDermott has taken over as manager he has moved up to be chief scout, with Nicky Hammond there as well.

"They've got a lot of good youngsters coming through there, which is nice to see, and he is part of that.

"It's nice because it's a club that's close to my heart and my dad's."

By Steve Madeley