West Brom boss Alan Irvine has tunnel vision

West Brom boss Alan Irvine has a novel method for dealing with the pressures of football management – he gets home and watches Match of the Day.

The Albion head coach was facing a possible exit from The Hawthorns had his side lost Saturday's crunch home derby against Villa after a previous run of five games without a win.

But his side pulled off a priceless victory thanks to Craig Gardner's winner to ease a little of the pressure on the Scot – not that poor results and subsequent 'stick' from supporters ever put him off football.

"I watch football in my spare time," joked Irvine. "I do 12-13 hour days and then go back to the apartment and put the football on. It is extremely sad, but I love football.

"It doesn't matter where you are in the league, it's a tough job. But it's not been so tough I haven't enjoyed it."

Dismissal on Sunday would have created unwanted symmetry for Irvine and Albion – the day after the Villa win marked the first anniversary of former boss Steve Clarke's departure.

But Irvine is adamant he was unaware of the date's significance and believes he has learned from losing his previous managerial jobs at Preston and Sheffield Wednesday.

"I didn't even know that date," he said. "So ignorance is bliss. I wouldn't have liked to know that stat before the game!

"Leaving Preston was a massive shock, Sheffield Wednesday less so.

"You come away from every experience hopefully having learned things. I'm a different coach from the one I was when I started. In 10 years' time I expect I will be a different coach again."

Irvine handed rare starts against Villa to summer signings Silvestre Varela and Brown Ideye, appeasing some fans who had been calling for team changes.

And he admitted: "It is a great time to have them, because we want to be able to choose from as many of our players as possible – ideally from all of them.

"It was frustrating to be without them, although it was due to circumstances out of anyone's control. Injuries just delayed the process.

"But you have to focus on the players you have available rather than the ones you don't have."