West Bromwich Albion 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1

West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Mowbray accused referee Nigel Miller of "gross injustice" and "poor officialdom" as a foul in the fifth minute of stoppage time on Carl Hoefkens went unchecked to allow Sheffield Wednesday a last-gasp equaliser.

Mowbray, whose side are second in the table despite the result, faces disciplinary action from the Football Association after racing across the pitch at the final whistle to remonstrate with the man in black.

He claimed the referee had allowed returning midfielder Steve Watson's goal to stand despite a foul by Marcus Tudgay on Hoefkens and an apparent over-play of injury time.

Albion had been leading with minutes to spare when veteran striker Kevin Phillips marked his 50th appearance in an Albion shirt with his tenth goal of the season. But he had to be stretchered off the field after suffering apparent knee damage.

Watson's late sucker punch came deep into injury time with the Albion fans claiming the referee had vastly overplayed the final minutes of the match.

After a furious Mowbray and Zoltan Gera had to pulled away from the officials at the final whistle, the Albion manager said: "That was a gross injustice done tonight. I am not going to question the referee's integrity - our game has the very best referees in the world - but that was very hard to take.

"There were some strange decisions out there. I have to be careful what I say, the referee has already said he is going to report my conversation which is fine because I feel we need to draw a line under this. If we have to explain it to the FA then so be it."

Mowbray stuck with Phillips and young Ishmael Miller up front. The club's £3 million signing from the Owls, midfielder Chris Brunt, started on the bench while the visitors were captained by former Albion midfielder Watson.

On three minutes Albion's Miller worked his way past Tommy Spurr and shot hard and low only to see his effort cleared by the last man.

Then Miller was forced to leave the field temporarily for treatment to a gashed head after colliding with Wednesday's Akpo Sodje and returned with his head heavily bandaged.

Within minutes he was drawing a save from keeper Lee Grant after good work by Carl Hoefkens.

Wednesday's first chance came on 15 minutes when Marcus Tudgay picked up on a mistake by Gera but found his path blocked by a solid Albion defence as he attempted a shot from 35 yards.

Miller then thought he had set up the opener on 21 minutes after he got the ball from Teixeira and slid it across goal towards his strike partner Kevin Phillips but, as the ball rattled into the back of the net off central defender Frank Simek, the assistant referee signalled for offside against the Manchester City loan star.

Referee Miller was then berrated by Albion fans after booking Bostjan Cesar for an apparent body check on Jermaine Johnson before Paul Robinson found Gera unmarked. The Hungarian midfielder unleashed a volley but it went high into the Birmingham Road stand.

Tudgay, through on goal in the 43rd minute, found himself squeezed out by the Albion defence and shot wide. Then Miller had the best shot of the half, forcing keeper Grant to push his long-range effort over thebar on 40 minutes.

In the the second half Phillips shot high and wide on 49 minutes after receiving from Belgian international Hoefkens.

Miller squandered an excellent chance after impressive play by Slovenian Robert Koren who tore the Wednesday defence inside out to set up the youngster in front of goal.

As if to make amends Miller then picked up on another Koren pass in the 55th minute to weave inside Richard Hinds but his low rising effort was met by the legs of a sprawling Grant.

In the 63rd minute Phillips forced a save from Grant after a neat one-two with Greening and then Koren, now Albion's key provider, found Robinson free out wide but his header again forced a save.

Phillips's low, long-range effort whistled past Grant's upright with 15 minutes to go before he popped with a 76th-minute goal only to then be forced from the field through injury.

Albion's Paul Robinson also appeared to go down injured and Wednesday broke away with Watson firing home in the 95th minute despite what looked like a blatant foul on an Albion defender.

The goal was greeted with fury by the home supporters and the Albion bench not only because the foul had gone unnoticed but because the referee appeared to have played at least two additional minutes of injury time over that indicated by the fourth official. Minutes earlier Gera had received a standing ovation as he left the field to make way for Brunt's entry against his former club.

Scorers: Phillips (77) 1-0, Watson (90) 1-1
WEST BROMWICH Albion (4-4-2): Kiely, Hoefkens, Albrechtsen (Pele, 40) Cesar, Robinson, Gera (Brunt, 75) Greening, Koren, Teixeira (Morrison, 63), Miller, Phillips. Subs: Bednar, MacDonald.
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (4-4-2): Grant, Johnson (Small, 68) Simek, Beevers, Spurr, Johnson, Whelan, Watson, O'Brien (Burton, 73) Tudgay, Sodje (Esajas, 87). Subs: Folly, Bullen.
Referee: Nigel Miller (County Durham.)
Bookings: Albion - Cesar (foul)
Attendance: 19,807.
Albion Man of the Match: Robert Koren - provided opportunities for Albion's strike force time after time.