Football first for family man Koren

Koren will return for Albion at Sheffield United tomorrow before flying home to Slovenia to see new son Tian for just the second time since his birth on July 31.

The midfielder, aged 28, is planning a flying visit to his family home in Slovenia on Sunday to see his wife and two young sons.

But, until then, Koren insists he must make sacrifices for the sake of the Baggies and his own career.

He said: "The baby was born in Slovenia, because we went on holiday and at the end my wife was not allowed to travel.

"It's not easy but we are coping with it quite well. It will be another three or four weeks and they will all be here, which will be better. I have two boys now. The oldest one is Nal and the younger one is Tian.

"Nal is three years old and that's the most difficult. With a baby it's okay because he sleeps a lot but when Nal is saying on the phone or over the internet that he is missing me and I need to come home, that is difficult.

"But for another couple of weeks we need to cope and then things will be better.

"Nal is kicking around a ball already and he wants to go to training every day like Daddy In Tian's first 26 days I have spent about four or five days with him, but I can see him through the internet.

"So I still talk to them and every day for two or three hours I can see what they are doing. It's difficult, but that's part of sport. If you go to play abroad sometimes you will be on your own and you need to cope with that."

Koren is planning a reunion with his family on Sunday when he will fly home for international duty and will have time for a brief detour before meeting up with his Slovenia colleagues.

But, for now, his attention is focused on Albion and their trip to Bramall Lane, where two of the Championship's undefeated sides will lock horns.

He said: "We know how Sheffield United play. They are a really compact team and very aggressive all over the pitch. We will try to be solid and compact defensively, try to play our football, break them down and try to find the spaces and hopefully score goals.

"In the Championship all the teams put you under a lot of pressure when you don't have the ball. They have some experienced players in the team so they will be strong and solid in defence and they concentrate on set-pieces."

The popular midfield man will head for South Yorkshire looking to build on his starring role last week, when he grasped his chance to claim a central midfield role.

Koren played a pivotal role in the 2-0 win over Ipswich and scored his team's second goal, and he is relishing the chance to operate in his preferred central role.

He said: "In two-and-a-half years I have played mostly in the middle but sometimes the manager decided I needed to play on the left or right wing.

"I always try to do my best for the team so the team will win but I prefer to play in the middle. Hopefully in the future I will get more chance to play in the middle, but it's up to the manager.

"I'm here to play football and if he needs me to help out on the left or right I will do it.

"Our manager knows everything about that. We have spoken two or three times and he was interested when he came to the club in where I play for my national team.

"It's up to him to make the decision."

Koren limped off in the victory over the Tractor Boys with a calf injury and missed the Carling Cup win over Rotherham on Wednesday.

But the Slovenia captain has declared himself fit to face the Blades.

He said: "I got a knock so it was quite swollen and sore. It has gone down a little bit and I trained as normal.

"I can still feel it a bit, but it is nothing major and I'm ready to play at the weekend.

"It's up to the manager if he puts me in the team or not."