TONY MOWBRAY admits his Sunderland side were ‘too passive’ as they crashed to a 2-1 home defeat to West Brom.

The Black Cats established a strong position as Amad Diallo fired them into a first-half lead from the penalty spot, but rather than looking to build on their advantage, they found themselves pegged back as their opponents dominated the second half.

Tom Rogic levelled with a first-time effort from the edge of the area, and Sunderland were condemned to defeat when Daryl Dike headed home Jed Wallace’s cross with seven minutes remaining.

Mowbray said: “I think we have to address the scenario where we feel as if we have to protect something because we don’t help ourselves.

“We sat too deep and invited pressure. This team at this stadium need to play on the front foot and yet it’s a human thing really to protect what you’ve got sometimes.

“It’s a frustrating night for us because against good teams and good players you’re giving them too much time on the ball and they’ll pick the right pass more often that not and that’s what they did tonight.

“They have some very good players for this league and ultimately it’s frustrating for us.”

Mowbray introduced Jack Clarke midway through the second half in an attempt to get his side back on the front foot, but with West Brom dominating possession throughout the second period, the hosts were unable to wrestle back the initiative.

Mowbray continued: “You could feel they were pushing us back a little bit and you need to throw punches when teams are doing that, you can’t just sit in.

“Jack has been really good for us one on one in wide areas, taking people on and using his pace down the outside, and yet (Elliot) Embleton did really well.

“We tried to play to narrow their back four off today and push our full-backs high, and we had relative success in the first half. But they found a way and their quality found a way to push us back.”