"He apologised to me" - Tony Mowbray drops claim on Joe Wildsmith situation at West Brom | OneFootball

Baggies boss Tony Mowbray has hinted he will stick by Joe Wildsmith despite a costly error against the Black Cats.

West Brom boss Tony Mowbray has hinted he will stick by Joe Wildsmith ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Bristol City, despite the shot-stopper making a costly mistake against Sunderland.

Albion’s play-off hopes took another body blow after a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at The Hawthorns over the weekend, leading to the Black Country dropping out of the top six after Middlesbrough and Bristol City both secured important victories.

It was a particularly poor afternoon for Wildsmith in the Albion goal, who failed to routinely palm away a Trai Hume free-kick in the 35th minute, with the Northern Ireland international’s curling effort the difference in an affair that, for the most part, lacked quality.

With the Baggies travelling to Ashton Gate on Tuesday, followed by the visit of Watford and then a trip to the CBS Arena to play Coventry City on Good Friday, Mowbray’s men must string a run of positive results together to reclaim a top six place, with games running out to have a shot at Premier League football next season.

A massive decision awaits Mowbray to make in the goalkeeping position, with Josh Griffiths waiting in the wings after returning from a loan spell at Bristol Rovers in January following Alex Palmer’s exit to Ipswich Town.

Tony Mowbray hints at retaining Joe Wildsmith despite Sunderland error

As reported by the Express & Star, Tony Mowbray revealed Joe Wildsmith immediately apologised for his mistake in the game, but admitted Albion’s inability to put the ball in the back of the opposition net was just as costly.

Mowbray said: “He (Wildsmith) should have saved it. He apologised to me after the game – he came to find me in my office and said it’s on him.

“But that’s the job as a goalkeeper. It’s frustrating because that becomes the narrative.

“Yet we had to score, with the chances we had and the situations we got into, you have to put the ball in the net.

“But we didn’t, like last week, so it becomes about the goal we lost rather than the three we should have scored."

When asked if he had a decision to make in goal, Mowbray added: “We’ve been here before, but I’ll see what he’s like in training and see how he reacts.

“It’s very naive to think ‘the goalie makes a mistake, so change the goalie’. Because if the goalie you put in makes a mistake in the next game, where do you go then?

“Change him again? I don’t think so, so I will rely on my experience to make the right decisions.

“The goalkeeper acknowledged he made a pretty bad mistake which cost us a goal which ultimately cost us the game.

“But the responsibility of the team is to score some goals in a game we were on top of for most of it.”

Joe Wildsmith goalkeeper switch must be considered to keep play-off hopes alive

Since replacing the outgoing Alex Palmer, Joe Wildsmith has been far from a safe pair of hands, making notable errors against Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United, Burnley and now Sunderland to cost Albion crucial points in the pursuit of the play-offs.

Josh Griffiths had a superb first half of the season at Bristol Rovers and is undoubtedly the future of West Brom’s goalkeeping department, with the 23-year-old surely deserving of an opportunity after Wildsmith’s continuous errors.