Carlos Corberan angered by Southampton moment amid Russell Martin moan

The Baggies were deservedly beaten 3-1 by Southampton under the lights in the second leg of the play-off semi-final, condemned to another season in the Championship as a result. Corberan has praised the Saints for their performance but wasn’t at all pleased by what happened pre-match.

Albion arrived just over an hour and a half before kick-off but there was a 15-minute delay getting into the stadium due to a sea of Southampton fans denying entry. The operation was a mess, quite simply, as West Brom were made to wait.

Of course, the gulf in quality on field was so significant that an extra quarter of an hour of preparation would’ve made little difference, but the psychological effects wouldn’t have been ideal. Corberan hopes similar doesn’t happen again.

"I think the way we came to the stadium today was not the right way," Corberan said during the post-match press conference. "We were waiting in the bus for 15 minutes to find the entrance, I don't know why nobody could coordinate and help us follow normal protocol.

"I didn't expect this. I think it shouldn't have happened. We arrived 95 minutes before the game but in the end we could only go in the dressing room 80 to 75 minutes before the game.

"Is it an excuse? Zero. But the level of protocols in these kind of finals has to be according to the level of football we represent,” Corberan continued, aggrieved.

Martin, meanwhile, revealed post-match that Southampton opted to have extra advertising hoardings close to the pitch to stop Darnell Furlong’s long throws. The tactic was in response to what he claims was West Brom making The Hawthorns pitch less wet than usual.

That wasn’t Martin’s only moan over the tie as the Saints head coach said his players were harmed by the heat during the first leg.