James Morrison: West Brom head coach bans talk of points penalty

Morrison has banned his squad from talking about the prospect of a sanction following a report in the Telegraph, external this week that the club had been charged by the English Football League for exceeding the £39m loss limit for the three seasons to 2024-25.

In response, Albion insisted they had "fully complied" with P&S rules but it is unclear exactly how many points the club could be deducted - and when - if they are found to have broken the rules.

Under EFL guidelines, any points penalties should be applied in the current season and with only four games - and 15 days - of the regular season to go, the decision's impact on the relegation picture, with Albion only two points above the drop zone, is potentially huge.

"As you can imagine, it was a little knock, but that's all it is. We can't affect that. Our jobs is the football side and we've got to concentrate on that," Morrison told BBC Radio WM.

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Published28 FebruaryMorrison said he had a "brief conversation with the people in charge" over the matter but wanted to keep the situation firmly in the background.

"I actually banned people from talking about it because it's not in our control," he said.

"We can only control what we can control. As simple as that. I don't want to hear about it. Obviously it's a big story externally, but not in here."

Morrison, who is in charge at The Hawthorns until the end of the season, said the threat of losing points has not changed the target he set for his squad over the remaining games - beginning on Saturday at Preston.

"No, still the same. We've got the target set out of the four games and we need to hit that," he said.

"This week I've seen it, the players are hungry to get that target and ultimately we have to start on Saturday.

"But this result [a potential penalty] doesn't determine our outcome of what we need.

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