Tony Mowbray has called on officials to clamp down on the kind of go-slow gamesmanship that meant the ball was in play for less than half of Sunderland's draw against Preston at the weekend. The Black Cats played out a goalless stalemate against Preston at the Stadium of Light, with the visitors slowing the game down at every opportunity with niggly fouls and taking as long as possible when restarting play with goal-kicks and throw-ins.
Mowbray says the stats showed there was only 44 minutes of actual playing time across the 90 minutes of the match - a figure he described as 'frightening'. He says it is no surprise that teams try to dampen down the atmosphere on Wearside, and was also honest enough to admit that his team might employ the same tactics at times away from home, but says it is up to the officials to keep the game moving.
"I watched the goalless draw between Leeds United and Aston Villa game at the weekend and afterwards Jesse Marsch was talking about gamesmanship," said Mowbray. "And at the weekend, the stats said that the ball was only in play for 44 minutes in our game against Preston - 44 minutes!
