The surprise Sunderland selection call that was giving Tony Mowbray sleepless nights - and why he did it

With Sunderland's defensive options severely depleted due to injury, Mowbray opted to reprise the back three that had brought some success over recent weeks.

That left Lynden Gooch to play as wing back and Mowbray opted for Abdoullah Ba's athleticism to partner Amad and play behind Joe Gelhardt, who impressed before being replaced by Alex Pritchard in the second half.

Roberts was also a second-half substitute as Sunderland battled to secure a comeback victory at The Hawthorns that leaves their top-six dream firmly alive ahead of the final two games of the regular campaign, though Mowbray's side face challenging fixtures and two of their rivals have an additional game to play. Blackburn Rovers face Burnley on Tuesday night, before the Baggies travel to Sheffield United the following evening.

It was put to Mowbray in his post-match press conference that the team goal which sealed Sunderland's winner was reminiscent of the West Brom side he led to the Premier League, and whose style and achievements mean he is still fondly remembered at the club.

The head coach's response revealed his angst at excluding Roberts from his initial XI, and underlined the importance the winger is likely to have at the Stadium of Light when Watford visit this weekend.

"Someone said in the tunnel to me that the football is still good," Mowbray said.

"Listen, I've never changed in terms of my beliefs. My first understanding of football was the 1970 World Cup, watching hazy pictures from Mexico of that Brazil team.

"I've always loved attacking, passing football and that's what I preach. If you preach the right habits to young footballers, generally they get it and take it on the pitch. You obviously need centre-halves who can head it away and centre-forwards who can bang it in the net, but this is a good football team with individual talent.

"It was a tough choice for me today, I've left Patrick Roberts even though I'm always eulogising about him. Sometimes I go to bed at night and think, 'how have I picked a team without Patrick Roberts in it?! It's madness!'. Yet we felt as if we needed Abdoullah Ba's legs and athleticism today, and we wanted a bit of physicality so we went with Pierre Ekwah ahead of Edouard Michut.

"What I'm always telling them is that just because you're on the bench for this one, we still love you and we're all in together. Next week, it will be someone else who sits out - keep training hard and keep going and let's see where it takes us."

Mowbray is likely to be selecting from a very similar squad this weekend, though he has retained some hope that Dan Ballard might be back from a hamstring injury to play some part.