Sunderland suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Coventry City on Saturday afternoon.

Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has suggested that Sunderland full-back Trai Hume could face retrospective action from the FA for an alleged “punch” on Coventry City midfielder Tatsuhiro Sakamoto during Saturday’s 3-0 defeat in the West Midlands.

The Black Cats suffered their heaviest loss of the season against Frank Lampard’s play-off hopefuls, with Haji Wright scoring all three goals in a one-sided affair at the CBS Arena.

But according to Hackett, things could have been even worse for Sunderland. Shortly after half-time, with Coventry leading 2-0, the Sky Blues looked to extend their advantage from a corner. Before the set-piece was taken, however, a coming together in the box left Sakamoto on the ground, with subsequent replays seemingly suggesting that Hume may have struck him in the chest.

What did Keith Hackett say about a potential ban for Sunderland defender Trai Hume?

At the time, referee Dean Whitestone booked Hume for his role in the altercation, but Hackett has since argued that the Northern Irish international should perhaps face a more severe punishment in the aftermath of the incident.

Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “That’s a red card offence, so there is always the likelihood of the FA coming in. I think there is a reluctance by the Football Association authorities, to re-referee football matches in this type of situation. Because they will have the report from the match referee who has only issued a yellow card and they will say, ‘That’s his judgement on the field of play and we’ll stay with that’.

“For me I think these are the incidents where that retrospective part of officiating to actually ensure that players don’t do it in the future [is needed]. He’s fortunate to get away without a red, he’s clearly punched his opponent, therefore that’s a red card offence. He knows what he was doing, I await the outcome of the FA. There’s generally a reluctance to re-referee these incidents but I think on this one they need to take a look, because this guy should be banned from the game for doing that.”

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What did Regis Le Bris say after Sunderland’s defeat vs Coventry City?

Speaking after the final whistle on Saturday afternoon, Le Bris said: "The main message is the same, if we drop by just 5% or 10% in our commitment, willingness, quality of behaviour... This league is tough.

"It can be really violent when you are not at the level. It's a good reminder I think that sometimes you can play bad football but you are not punished, and I think this afternoon we were punished. The result was deserved, nothing else to say. "Now it's a question of reaction. When you look at what we have built before, we have to trust this. Today should be an accident I think but at the same time, we have to understand the reasons behind the defeat."

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