Walsall boss backs Jack Ross over Max Power red but is left baffled by one major decision

Power saw red for a foul on Liam Kinsella in the 23rd minute, a decision that left Ross fuming.

He will appeal the call and Keates says he thought it was 'harsh'.

"If I’m honest, I didn’t think it was. Watching it back again, I’m not sure it was. If I was the manager of Sunderland I’d be appealing it."

Keates was left with his own gripe, however, after his side saw a goal disallowed shortly after Power's sending off.

Andy Cook headed a Josh Ginnelly cross into the bottom corner but the linesman gave it offside.

Keates said he was a 'yard on'.

The Walsall boss said his side were the architect of their own downfall, however, and lamented their decision making with the game seemingly won.

"It’s not offside," he said.

"He’s a yard onside. You can’t point your finger at the referee, the linesman is this side, he can see everything and for whatever reason he’s decide to flag.

"It’d been a different game on the back of that, but we need to look at ourselves. We need to manage the situation a lot better.

"[It was] naive," he added.

"We’re in control, two nil up against ten men. We concede two poor goals and we’re accountable for that. We should have made better decisions on the break and managed the game better. Decision making in football is massive, they need to learn from it."