Chairman Tony Bloom, being the gambler that he is, might be attracted by the odds of Albion getting a result at Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup on Saturday with Martin Hinshelwood in caretaker charge.

The long-serving director of football, now occupying the manager’s hotseat for the fourth time, is unbeaten as a stop-gap.

He may have struggled for results during his brief reign as permanent boss in the Championship post-Peter Taylor and pre-Steve Coppell but Bloom has placed the club in a safe pair of hands in the current circumstances.

Hinshelwood’s first mini-stint as the main man followed the departure back in 1993 of Barry Lloyd, the manager he assisted for six years and now the club’s chief scout.

“I had Hartlepool away, 2-2,” Hinshelwood recalled after taking the players for training yesterday.

“I had Bradley Wosahlo and Nicky Bissett up front, then Liam (Brady) came in on the Tuesday.

“Then, when Jeff Wood left, we played at Plymouth and won 2-1. Duncan McCarthur made his debut that day and then Micky (Adams) came in just after that.

“When Micky left I helped Bob (Booker) a couple of times as well. I am unbeaten at the moment, so the supporters can be happy I’ve got a better chance of getting a result on Saturday than when I was manager!

“That still hurts, don’t get me wrong, but if I can help the club along the way I will.”

Self-deprecation is typical Hinshelwood. He is as cheery and good-natured as they come but he is a shrewd operator too and the 56-year-old brings a wealth of experience to the task of temporarily succeeding Russell Slade.

He received the news in a phone call from Bloom on Sunday, having looked after the under-nines at the training ground after their regular coach cried off ill.

“The chairman said unfortunately Russell, Dean (White) and Bob have gone and would I take over as caretaker until they appoint somebody, with Steve (Brown) and Charlie (Oatway) on board as well?

“I have looked at it as a two-day cycle. Monday and Tuesday just looking at what we want to do, then Wednesday we can re-assess and, if there is nobody here by then, we need to be preparing for the Cup game on Thursday and Friday.

“There is no point us trying to pick a team now. If we are here on Saturday to take the side, which will be an honour, then we’ll do that.

“David Jupp has come in to help Vic (Bragg) with the youth team, because they’ve had three people there and suddenly there is one.

“We don’t want them feeling neglected. They have got an FA Youth Cup game on Wednesday (at Barnet), which is important for them, but the FA Cup is important for the pros as well, so we are trying to get the balance right.”

Hinshelwood has worn the T-shirt, so he knows better than most how Slade is feeling.

“It hurts because people look at you and think ‘he’s failed’. He’s worked hard since he has been here, he got a lot of new faces in and has brought some good players here. Perhaps we haven’t seen the best of them.

“Hopefully in the coming weeks and months they will push on as the gaffer would have liked them to have done.”

Although a bit surprised by the timing of Slade’s departure, Hinshelwood also recognises why Bloom has acted.

“There’s a new stadium being built, the chairman has put a lot of money in towards that and he wants us playing at Championship level,” he said.

“You don’t earn millions playing poker if you are not a little bit cut-throat, and I don’t mean that nastily.

“He has looked at it and you have got to give him credit for saying ‘hold on, it’s not going quite right, we need a change’.

“Who ever comes in will get the backing of everybody here at the moment, the players and the staff who are left. We have just got to wait and see.”

For the moment it is Hinsh back at the helm and there are no prizes for guessing the focus of attention for his first training session yesterday.

“We felt we needed to do a bit more on defending after the weekend,” he said. “It was a bit back to basics if you want to put it like that.

“It’s difficult. Some of the players are going to be happy, because they weren’t getting a look-in, and some sad that he (Slade) has got the sack, but I was pleased with their attitude.

“They worked hard and I thought it was a good session. I enjoyed it.”