West Brom's Jed Wallace on distress of Black Country derby trouble and uncertain minutes

The FA Cup Black Country derby descended into chaos after Wolves’ Matheus Cunha made it 2-0 with 12 minutes to go and supporter trouble broke out in the corner of the Birmingham Road and West Stand.

Pockets of commotion continued around The Hawthorns as police restrained and led handcuffed spectators away. Injured fans, covered in blood and at least one on a stretcher, were also removed.

Players and staff were led from the pitch after some Albion players went into the corner – which typically houses players’ families and guests – to check on their loved ones. Baggies defender Kyle Bartley had to remove his two children from the section, with other concerned players looking on. Skipper Wallace revealed his parents and friends were sitting nearby – but confirmed all players’ families and friends were OK.

“My mum and dad were over there and a couple of my mates. That’s the family area so a few of the kids were over there, which is why you had the distress of a few players going over,” Wallace said after the 2-0 defeat, Wolves’ first Hawthorns win since 1996.

“I don’t really know what’s gone on, who’s in there who shouldn’t be in there or whatever else, I don’t really know the ins and outs of it.

“It’s just disappointing as that’s what everyone is going to talk about which is a shame because the support was brilliant and it was an amazing atmosphere to play in.”

The former Wolves winger added: “You have to trust the authorities to do what they did. They had control of the situation but naturally when you’re a dad you’re going to have that distress and worry for your kids which is normal.

“The players and managers handled it well. Between the two squads there have probably been thousands of matches played and that’s probably not happened, certainly not to me or anyone else before.”

The game was paused for 35 minutes while authorities and security services tried to deal with the trouble. Pockets of incidents continued around the stadium, including in Millennium Corner next to the Smethwick End. A handful of separate pitch invasions took place as announcements pleaded with fans to return to their seats.

Wallace admitted to an “alien” situation in the dressing room as players frantically sought messages of safety from loved ones.

But he said things returned to normal soon after with players attempting to keep muscles warm on exercise bikes and boss Carlos Corberan giving out tactical instructions.

The captain said: “I think everyone is fine. It’s a bit alien. Normally at half-time nobody would ever go on their phones, but a couple of lads were on their phones checking everyone was OK, and everyone is fine.

“I don’t think it (Bartley being substituted after the incident) was that (distress), I think it was just tactical. Everyone is fine and that’s the most important thing. Luckily nobody was hurt from their families’ point of view.

“We wanted to give the fans a result that they deserved. We didn’t which is disappointing for us. Wolves hadn’t had too many good days here so it’s disappointing we didn’t manage to win the game.

“Normally at half-time when you come in you get a banana, get your gels and if you need a bit of treatment. I don’t know how long we were in there, but it felt a long time. In the end the lads are on bikes, a mini warm-up in the dressing room, then come back out. There was a bit of confusion over whether we would come back out or not.

“Once you know your family is OK you’ve got to concentrate on the game. So we had five minutes of chaos in the dressing room where there was a bit of confusion about what’s going on and then knuckled down and focus back on the game.”