Fair play to the Albion

MANAGER Tony Mowbray is rightly being lauded for the entertaining brand of football his West Bromwich Albion side has employed to take them to the top of the Championship.

But one little appreciated change Mowbray has brought about this time round is the improvement in the disciplinary record of his team this season compared to last.

Last term Albion had the dubious distinction of finishing bottom of the Championship Fair Play league with a total of 98 yellow cards and nine reds.

How things have changed in just a few months. At the turn of the year Albion sat proudly at the top of the Fair Play table, with just 23 yellow cards and one red from their first 25 games.

That`s less than a booking a game, compared with an average of over two last season.

The statistics look even better when it comes to sendings-off. Last term the Baggies had a player sent off on average every five games; this season there has been just one dismissal in 26 games to date.

There`s no doubt that the run in to the end of last season was hugely affected by disciplinary problems.

Mowbray, it would seem, is determined not to let history repeat itself.