Chaplow praises manager.

ALBION old boy Richard Chaplow claims his former club would have prospered under Alan Irvine's leadership and expressed relief that the Preston boss remained at Deepdale.

Depending on who you believe, Irvine either turned down the head coach's role or, according to Albion, was never even offered the job.

Either way, Preston mid-fielder Chaplow, who made 58 appearances for the Baggies during a threeyear period, is relieved to still have Irvine in charge at North End, not least as the Scot has led them to third in the table.

"What the gaffer has done at Preston is secondto-none," said Chaplow. "We are only where we are because of him and keeping him here was definitely West Brom's loss and our gain.

"Had he gone I doubt very much we'd be where we are now without him in charge."

Chaplow believes Preston will be meeting Albion at a 'dangerous' time.

"West Brom are one of the teams to beat this season," he added. "They are dangerous at any given time of the year but two bad results won't have gone down well with their manager, players or fans."

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