Clarke warns players against diving
West Brom head coach Steve Clarke will speak to any of his players he thinks are guilty of diving.
Clarke concedes he has already had words with defender Liam Ridgewell, who was accused of simulation to win a penalty during the recent win at Sunderland.
The Baggies head coach’s comments follow on from Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Arsenal, when Santi Cazorla appeared to go to ground after being untouched by Steven Reid and earned his side a penalty.
Clarke said: “I’ve spoken to Liam on a number of occasions this season. We spoke about a number of different incidents.
“I don’t speak about players from other clubs but if one of my players goes down with something similar to that (Cazorla), then we’ll talk about it.”
Defender Jonas Olsson has stressed the need for West Brom to get their season back on track as soon as possible.
The Baggies were lying third in the Barclays Premier League a fortnight ago but have now suffered a hat-trick of defeats against Swansea, Stoke and the Gunners.
Olsson knows the importance of the Baggies halting the slide – starting with Sunday’s home encounter against West Ham.
The Swedish international said: “I think all teams have down periods and, for us, it’s happening now.
“We need to get back on track as soon as possible. Stoke and Arsenal are difficult places to go to but I don’t think we should over analyse the games.
“For us, it’s important to get back on track during the Christmas period of games coming up.”
