Chairman Derek Shaw has announced the news that all PNE fans wanted to hear, Alan Irvine will not be joining West Bromwich Albion.

The North End chief has told the official website that the manager's contract had allowed him to talk to the recently relegated Black Country side, but the gaffer had chosen to continue with his work at Deepdale.

"Over the weekend I was approached by West Bromwich Albion," Shaw told PNE.com. "Sometimes it is very difficult to give a running commentary to our supporters via the media. I had to discuss things on Monday morning with our lawyers.

"Alan was given permission to speak to West Brom while he was away on holiday, but he has chosen to remain as Preston's manager.

"We are extremely pleased, but I had to comply with the terms of the contract, which is extremely common in the modern day management contract. This is nothing unique to Preston North End."

Shaw also added that his manager's representative had spoken to the Baggies about replacing Tony Mowbray, but David Moyes' former assistant had never met them in person.

"I know Alan and his representative did have some talks, but I believe Alan did not meet them face to face and he has chosen to remain at Preston which we are extremely pleased about. This was confirmed to me late on Monday night when Alan returned from his family holiday.

"I would like to apologise to supporters for possibly not keeping them fully up to speed, but these are very complex matters and certain things have to remain private, but I can assure fans they are not far behind the time scale of this all happening."