GARY FEELS AT HOME WITH THE PRESSURE

GARY ROWETT admits he is living a double life as he desperately bids to stave off the axe at Stoke.

Defeat at underdogs Shrewsbury in the FA Cup today will see the curtain come down on Rowett’s eight-month reign at the Potters.

But the 44-year-old says that it’s a delicate balancing act trying not to take the pressure home with him.

Rowett is getting hammered right now with Stoke sitting 14th in the Championship table and eight points off the play-off places.

He is the first to admit it’s not gone as planned and defeat to the League One strugglers is unthinkable.

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“I’m not going to suggest that I’m superhuman and don’t feel some sort of disappointment,” said Rowett.

“It’s the business I’m in. You would have to be an idiot not to know it’s a precarious job.

“I’m not going to whinge or complain about the reaction and it’s not going to change who I am.

“It’s not going to change the Gary Rowett who goes home every night to his four kids and his family. I know who I am and I’m not going to change my outlook.

“It’s not fair to take it back to your family. I very rarely let it affect my home life and that’s important. You are perceived as a different person in your job to the one you are at home.

“But I still have to do the normal things like put my little lad to bed, make sure the bins are out and all that stuff and I still get moaned at by my missus for not tidying up. I don’t get any special dispensation.”

Rowett doesn’t do social media, joking that if he needs to hear abuse from the fans, he just turns up for a home game.

But it still hurts.

“I think it might have been difficult for my kids at Derby,” he said.

“They don’t say a lot but some of the things they tell you afterwards, about the abuse they have had on social media...

“That’s just because their surname is the same as yours. It shouldn’t be like that, but that’s the job and that’s life these days.”

Rowett doesn’t need telling a cup upset is the last thing he needs.

“We can’t afford to lose any more games – let alone against a side in a division below us,” he said.

“They’ll be up for it but I’m not worried at all. I haven’t got a single ounce of worry about what happens because you can’t think like that.

“I’ve been sacked after winning a game with the team one point off the play-offs. I know how it works.

“The magnitude of our situation amplifies things. We’ve lost two in 12 but I appreciate our results haven’t been good enough.”

Stoke have made the loan deals of Benik Afobe and Ryan Woods permanent for a combined £20m.