MICK McCARTHY last night insisted his Sunderland side had been "mugged'' by West Brom at the Stadium of Light.

Jason Koumas grabbed a dramatic last-gasp winner for the Baggies after McCarthy's men had dominated proceedings in the First Division promotion duel.

Manager McCarthy is now resigned to the lottery of the play-offs in the fight for a top-flight place.

"We feel like we've been mugged,'' complained McCarthy, who was subjected to an angry protest from a small group of fans in the main stand on the final whistle.

"We're smarting, angry and upset. It rankles.

"It was extremely difficult to break West Brom down. We knew they would be defensive, but maybe not as much as they were.

"That's irrelevant, though, because we've lost the game.

"West Brom will see it as a job well done.

"I've no grouse with the players, but West Brom scored from a breakaway and it shouldn't have happened.

"If we'd been well beaten and conceded a great goal, we wouldn't feel so bad.

"But people should remember it will be an achievement if, and when, we end up in the play-offs.

"That shouldn't be seen as a disappointment.

"We're going to be hard on ourselves after this result, but we shouldn't forget how far we've come since last season.''

McCarthy admitted that lifting his players' spirits for Wednesday's game at Crystal Palace could be harder than it was before they won away to Wimbledon after losing to Millwall in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

"This is possibly a bigger test,'' he said. "We haven't got Wimbledon, the bottom club, away from home, we've got Palace.''

Sunderland skipper George McCartney is almost certainly out after being carried off after only eight minutes yesterday with cuts to both legs which required stitches.

McCarthy was unhappy with Andy Johnson's challenge. "It was a bad tackle,'' he said.

Albion boss Gary Megson insisted: "We're not home - but we're a bit drier! We need another four points to be mathematically sure of going up. It's a fantastic result for us here.''

And skipper Sean Gregan added: "Obviously we're delighted. The pressure was on Sunderland to win. They were playing catch-up and we would have taken a point, but to snatch all three is great."

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