'Weird': Isaac Price recalls unique West Brom situation during relegation fight ahead of internationals

Isaac Price found himself in an unusual and unique position during Albion’s Championship relegation dogfight.

The Baggies playmaker and his team mates were battling for their Championship lives after an underwhelming campaign.

But for Price the situation was different - as he was going head to head in the fight for survival against the man who had handed him his international debut, and who was still his international manager.

Ex-Stoke boss Michael O’Neill took on the dual role of an international manager and interim boss of Blackburn, who were up against Albion in the bid to avoid the drop.

The two sides faced each other over the bank holiday weekend and in the final months of the season, Price even played for his country with O’Neill in charge.

It was a strange situation that had a happy ending, with both Albion and Blackburn securing their Championship status.

Ahead of the upcoming internationals that see Northern Ireland take on Guinea and France, Price has explained that it was a bizarre situation to be in.

And he has also revealed how nervous he and his team mates were regarding O’Neill’s future, before he turned down the chance to take the full time job at Blackburn to remain as Northern Ireland boss.

He said: “It's obviously a bit weird. You go from him being your international team manager to obviously playing against him, with us both in difficult positions.

"But Michael showed how good a manager he is, he managed to keep them safe and did a great job for them for six months.

“He went to Blackburn and did a job for them there. We were a little bit nervous that maybe he might have took a club role on full-time but I think everyone's buzzing.

"We all love playing for him and especially for me he's probably been the main manager that I've had since I started playing first-team football.

"He trusted me, he threw me in when I wasn't playing any real senior games at club level.

"He's got a good group of players here. They're all young and I think he's probably excited to keep working with us."