West Brom rivals Sunderland told by ex-referee they could be fined after what they did at The Hawthorns

West Brom were beaten 1-0 by Sunderland over the weekend. The Black Cats’ defender Trai Hume scored the only goal of the game in the first half at The Hawthorns. Tony Mowbray’s side weren’t able to find an equaliser in the second half and slumped to a loss.

The Baggies are now sat in 8th place in the Championship table and have six fixtures left to play. They are three points off the play-offs. The Midlands outfit are back in action on Tuesday night with an away trip to Ashton Gate to face Bristol City.

Sunderland could face fine after West Brom loss

Former PGMOL referee Keith Hackett has said Sunderland could be in line for a fine after their match against West Brom. Regis Le Bris’ side were late in coming out for the second half. The Baggies’ players had to wait a while for their opponents to take to the field after the interval.

Hackett has said, as per West Brom News: “Sunderland coming out late could be an act of gamesmanship. The referee will include this in his post-match report and the EFL are more than likely to issue a fine.”

The re-start was slightly delayed much to the annoyance of West Brom. They dug deep to try and find a goal but weren’t able to get one in the end. They lacked a cutting edge at the top end of the pitch and that is something they will be keen to resolve ahead of their upcoming matches.

Mowbray was picked as their replacement for Carlos Corberan back in December. He is an experienced coach in the Football League who has been with them before. The ex-Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers man has won four of his 13 games since his return.

West Brom boss Tony Mowbray’s reaction to Sunderland loss

Mowbray was disappointed to lose against his former club Sunderland. The Baggies are still in with a shout of getting into the top six and could do with beating Bristol City. Speaking after their defeat to the Black Cats, their manager said: “Football is a cruel game. I’ve had a long, long chat with the players in there because they are trying their socks off and they are working really hard.

“I’m not questioning how I’m asking them to play because I feel like it gives us dominance in games, it gets us into great areas on the pitch and gets us 21 shots and over 60 per cent possession, yet we lose 1-0. That’s two weeks on the bounce and I’m questioning it with the players and hopefully we have the humility to say, should we play two up top and play a lot of long balls and keep the ball around opposition boxes that way.

“I think you might end up having 30 per cent possession and about four shots and you might scrape a 1-0 win now and then. My belief is dominate games by hard work and denying the opposition the ball, and then being good with it ourselves and playing around their box and trying to get lots of shots and crosses off.”