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West Brom boss Valerien Ismael fumes at time-wasters

Valerien Ismael says he will stick to his policy of not criticising referees – but the Albion boss admits there are times when he finds it difficult to bite his tongue.

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While all Championships teams have to deal with incorrect decisions going against them over the course of the season, the Baggies have been the victims of poor calls in key games against their promotion rivals this term.

In the opening day clash at Bournemouth, Callum Robinson had a goal very harshly ruled out.

And at Fulham 10 days ago, Aleksandar Mitrovic was awarded a penalty despite Kyle Bartley cleanly winning the ball from him in the box.

On both occasions, though, Ismael refused to criticise the referee – something the vast majority of managers would have done.

But the 46-year-old admits he does get frustrated when teams continuously time-waste – something that is happening more and more to Albion this season.

"Honestly, at some points, I find it really embarrassing when you see players stay down for so long and the referee doesn’t say anything," Ismael said when asked why he is never critical of referees in his post-match interviews.

"But I always ask myself if it will be a help if I say something – or is it better to stay focused on my team.

"It’s not always easy, I'm an emotional guy and it’s not always easy. But I always ask myself if it will help.

"And I always ask myself if we made a mistake, if we lost a game, do I need to talk about the referee?

"I just need to stay focused on myself on my team and look at the mistakes we make and the wrong decisions we make.

"But sometimes it’s hard when teams are time-wasting.

"Especially now with a head injury – they know the referee will stop the game straight away because it could be a concussion.

"But you see that some players fake head injuries now – you can recognise this.

"As long as the referee doesn’t say anything, as long as we don’t have clear rules, then it will happen.

"But all we can do is stay calm and punish the opponent when we get the chance."