Tony Mowbray expressed his sympathy at the exit of Billy Davies as Derby County manager after the Rams' new board axed the man who led the club to victory against West Bromwich Albion in the Championship play-off final.

Davies' side defeated Albion 1-0 at Wembley at the end of last season to win a place in the Premier League but they have just one win in 14 matches this season.

Although Glaswegian Davies has not been axed due to results, but following a bust-up with new Derby chairman Adam Pearson over a lack of investment in the side, Albion boss Mowbray says the precarious nature of managing in the Premier League has not put him off.

He very much still wishes it was Albion who had been promoted in May, even if life might have been much tougher for him personally managing in English football's elite.

He said: "With respect to Billy, he was widely quoted at the time of the play-offs last year as saying that he was working on a three-year plan for Derby to get into the Premier League but he got them there in Year One. He probably got there too soon for his club.

"It is difficult to talk about the Derby situation because it isn't really my club but what am I am trying to say in defence of Billy Davies is that he said that he got to the Premier League way, way, way ahead of schedule really and maybe that has materalised with his team.

"Derby were a decent team last year with decent players and I think whoever went up was going to find it very, very difficult.

"I would never sit here and say we are going to go up and rip the Premier League up. That is not the case - it is very, very hard every game.

"If you lose a goal in a Premiership game then you realise you have a battle to score two to win that game. You get lucky sometimes and you get near their goals but it is a very, very tough league.

"You have to work extremely hard to get anything but I raised the point last year that my belief is that you need players with the technical ability to cope with it.

"You need players who can retain the ball and ease the pressure and I think this season we have some players who can do that now at our football club."

Davies' departure from Pride Park makes him the sixth Premier League managerial casualty of the season so far, even though it is only four months old.

The former Preston North End boss follows Jose Mourinho (Chelsea), Sammy Lee (Bolton Wanderers), Martin Jol (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Hutchings (Wigan Athletic) and Steve Bruce (Birmingham City) out of the exit door.