James Shan confident in his coaching but aware West Brom may want to change

Shan is still in the dark over the length of his tenure, and isn't sure if he'll be in charge against Preston North End on Saturday.

Albion slipped to a second defeat in three days with a 3-2 loss at Bristol City last night after conceding three goals in the opening 20 minutes.

It led the away fans to chant 'sack the board' during a disastrous first-half.

When asked what the defeat meant for his tenure, Shan said: "I've no idea. I've been asked to step in and take care of team affairs until further notice.

"Win, lose, or draw, that's the message from the powers that be above me. That's for them to answer.

"If you're going through the five games, we won the first three, there were elements of performances that needed improving.

"Sometimes results paper over the cracks, but we work diligently.

"The performance against Millwall wasn't good enough. We were outfought.

"Tonight we had 20 minutes when we were horrific, we allowed Bristol to dominate us.

"After that, they still had some moments but we limited them.

"Second half we were in total control, the moments they created were from our lapses in concentration and we opened the back door. The Jay Dasilva chance is an example of that.

"I'm not concerned sat here right now in the direction of performances. If we had performed poorly against Bristol City I'd be the first to go to the board and say we need to get someone in. But the boys reacted in the second half.

"I'm a confident coach, I'm confident in my ability. But if they choose to stabilise and have someone in from the outside, I'll support that person. My best interest is in the football club."

Shan admitted the club would now be fighting to cement their play-off spot after slipping nine points behind the top two with five games remaining.

But when he was asked if so much uncertainty surrounding the managerial position put that run-in at risk, he said: "I haven't felt that in the training ground and in the group. That's one for the board.

"I'm not naive to realise that's while you're winning people roll with it. When results go against you, people will scrutinise and people ask questions."

Albion defended poorly in the opening 20 minutes, and found themselves 3-0 down.

"If I'm looking at the defensive unit, we had Kyle Bartley who hasn't trained a great deal, he's been out injured," said Shan. "In an ideal circumstance, he gets 20 or 30 minutes and ramp his volume up.

"Craig's been sick since Friday, hence he wasn't available on Saturday. You have to applaud both lads' mentality to want to play.

"With a 100 per cent fit Craig Dawson and Kyle Bartley we defend with a bit more composure, concentration and aggression."

Albion conceded within two minutes after Jake Livermore lost possession on the edge of the box.

"We've put the ball at risk for the first goal," said Shan. "We spoke about a no risk mentality in that final third and not letting teams jump all over us, but that happened.

"Those mistakes happen, but I was also disappointed with the nature of the other two goals.

"However, Jake Livermore's reaction to the first goal was magnificent. He didn't go under.

"There was a reaction in the first half, we changed shape after 25 minutes to give us an extra defender around their front two.

"We continued that tactical change at half-time and said to the players we needed a reaction. With the power you've got in the top half of the pitch, we knew if we scored a goal we'd be back in the game.

"It wasn't to be tonight, but the lads responded very well."

Robins boss Lee Johnson said: "I've just been on the bed with the doc! I said to the boys, just let me enjoy 20 minutes.

"It's a massive win for us, what an unbelievable game and an advert for the Championship. It could have been 7-5.

"The way we blitzed them for the first 20 minutes was big."