West Brom boss identifies the crucial moment in honest verdict on Sunderland defeat

The Baggies boss admitted that his side were perhaps a touch fortunate to go into the half with a one-goal advantage, and his side started very strongly as they looked to double their tally.

They had a number of shots from deep inside the box in one passage of play, but Sunderland managed to get numerous bodies on the line and somehow come through unscathed.

Not long afterwards, Lynden Gooch crossed for Dennis Cirkin and his deft header levelled the scores, with the defender going on to snatch the winner just over five minutes from time as he finished off a superb team move.

Corberan said he was happy with the effort of his side and felt they had actually been better in that second half, but rued their lack of composure in the final third.

The West Brom coach did not make any substitutions until the minute before Sunderland's winner, and explained afterwards that he was happy with the performance of his side and particular the way they were pressing against the visitor's passing approach.

One of his key frustrations was that they did not capitalise on what he felt were some dangerous turnovers: "We started the game very well, the last 10 minutes of the first half were very good too - but from the minutes maybe 10 to 35 they were controlling the game better.

"We arrive at half time winning, and in the second half for me we competed much better than them, and we end up losing the game. Because in football what happens in the boxes makes the difference, and today the game has been won by the team that were more clinical in the box. We have different styles, they are a team very comfortable with the ball. I think we created more chances but we weren't clinical. We had a big chance in the second half before they score their first goal that was a key moment in the game, we have three or four chances to score. Not many minutes later, they use our excessive aggressiveness to try and defend in our half to score the goal that makes a big difference.

"I didn't see my team giving up. We recovered the ball a lot close to their box in the second that we didn't use well enough. I don't remember any big chances for them in the second half other than the goals they scored, but it's true that in the first half you have to give them a lot of credit because they were very comfortable [in possession].

"We had the right spirit today but there were some aspects that they managed better than us and that is why they won the game."

West Brom's play-off hopes still remain in their own hands with one extra game to play, and they will climb into the top six if they beat Sheffield United on Wednesday night.