Tony Mowbray had this telling reaction to THAT big refereeing decision in Sunderland draw

Elliot Embleton was played through on goal by Jack Clarke early in the second half of the 0-0 draw at the Stadium of Light, but Jeremy Simpson had failed to play an advantage after Patrick Roberts was brought down on the edge of the box.

Mowbray had been left frustrated by the amount of time the ball was not in play against Preston North End on Saturday and was exasperated again when just two minutes of added time were played at the start of a first half here in which there were numerous stoppages for injury.

The Sunderland head coach says he won't make decisions an excuse for not winning but stressed that feels officiating needs to improve.

"Listen, I say a lot that I don't want to be the manager who moans about referees but goodness me, come on," he said.

"Yous were all watching, you tell me...

"I don't want to lambast the referee but there was some strange stuff going on out there, or at least I thought there was anyway. I'm not sure the referee helped the match tonight.

"I think he got one or two wrong. I do think the standard of refereeing in the division needs to be better, I think that's a fair assessment. I've spoken to some of the referees after games in a respectful way, so they know my thoughts. I think that's fair."