It must be the season for apologies. Jose Mourinho will say sorry to Arsene Wenger if the Arsenal boss says sorry to him.

Mark McGhee wants an apology from Leon Knight and now Stoke midfielder Darel Russell wants an apology from the Albion manager.

Russell insists McGhee is wrong to accuse him of stamping on Seb Carole during the Seagulls' heaviest defeat of the season.

The flashpoint came just before half-time with Albion trailing, totally against the run of play, to a 35th- minute goal from Sam Bangoura.

Russell, booked earlier for a foul on Dean Hammond, sent Carole sprawling and the ball into touch with a firm but fair tackle.

It was after the challenge that Russell allegedly trod on the little French winger, infuriating McGhee, his No. 2 Bob Booker and several players.

The former Norwich player vehemently protested his innocence after going on to score Stoke's second goal. "There was no stamp," he said. "Mark McGhee needs to watch the video and perhaps then he might issue an apology.

"I could see his (Carole's) body underneath me as I tried to avoid him. There was no stamp on him, my foot wasn't even close to him.

"If it was a stamp I am sure the linesman would have seen it and the ref, because they were both on my back sharpish after my supposed late tackle.

"I was already on a yellow card, so it would be crazy for me to try to stamp on people knowing I would get a red card straight away."

Russell's version of events was surprisingly backed up by Carole, who required treatment after the tackle. Asked if there was a stamp, he said: "I didn't see that. Our legs blocked together and my ankle just turned."

The incident overshadowed the real turning point, the goal Albion had already conceded after controlling the game.

A stray pass by Dean Hammond, marring a strong display, allowed Blackburn loanee Paul Gallagher to split open the defence and Bangoura to finish confidently past the advancing Alan Blayney.

McGhee said: "It was just giving the ball away totally unnecessarily. Dean was absolutely gutted, because we all feel that was the goal that cost us the game, but I thought Dean before that and after it had a fantastic game. He was the one that kept it going for us and kept competing."

The match was won and lost in the opening 35 minutes and not just because of Bangoura's strike. As has often been the case with Albion this season, they failed to capitalise when they were so obviously on top.

All they had to show for their superiority were a few efforts from distance by Alexandre Frutos. The Seagulls must be more ruthless if they are going to avoid relegation.

"They (Stoke) were scratching their heads but we didn't score a goal or a couple of goals and that is a huge concern," McGhee admitted. "Our strikers have got to be more dangerous. They are playing well enough but they are not threatening the goal enough.

"We have got to find a way, whether it's improving the strikers we have or finding strikers that are going to capitalise on our good play. We played all the football but it's about product and they were clearly more effective."

Neither Knight's replacement Jake Robinson, who is mourning the loss of his closest friend in a car accident, Nor Colin Kazim-Richards looked like scoring. They were both eventually replaced, by Chris McPhee and Federico Turienzo.

The sensible course of action for Knight to take now is to follow the example of team-mate Mark McCammon. The big front man, currently sidelined after ankle surgery, apologised to McGhee for their half-time row at Burnley last season.

McGhee has demonstrated with his treatment of McCammon since then that he is not one to bear a grudge.

If Knight says sorry for his petulant reaction to being substituted against Wolves next week then a line can be drawn under the episode and he is likely to be back leading the attack against Crystal Palace on Sunday week.

It is a pity Albion now have such a long wait to bounce back, as they so often do, from only their second away defeat of the campaign.

That was confirmed by Russell midway through the second half, when a cross by Lewis Buxton led to a goalmouth melee, and embellished by Bangoura's header 15 minutes from time which a rusty Blayney, making his second appearance of the season, allowed to slip through him.

Stoke, with the elements in their favour, improved after the break and had the cutting edge Albion lacked but McGhee was right when he said: "As far as 3-0 is concerned I think we've been mugged. They got their goals easily and 3-0 flattered them."

Stoke have now won the last six meetings, scoring 12 goals and conceding just two in the process. They are the last visitors to Withdean, so Albion hopefully will not require a home result to stay up on the final day for the second season running.

  • Albion (4-4-2): Blayney 6; Hart 7, McShane 6, Butters 6, Reid 6; Carole 6, Nicolas 6, Hammond 7, Frutos 8; Kazim-Richards 6, Robinson 6. Subs: McPhee for Robinson (withdrawn 64), Turienzo for Kazim-Richards (withdrawn 72), Mayo, Dodd, Chaigneau.
  • Stoke (4-4-2): Simonsen; Halls, Hoefkens, Duberry, Buxton; Gallagher, Russell, Brammer, Sigurdsson; Sidibe, Bangoura. Subs: Chadwick for Sigurdsson (withdrawn 46), Henry for Gallagher (withdrawn 86), Junior for Bangoura (withdrawn 88), De Goey, Wilkinson.
  • Matchfacts
  • - Shots on goal: Albion 2, Stoke 7.

- Shots off goal: Albion 4, Stoke 3.

- Corners: Albion 8, Stoke 3.

- Offside: Albion 2, Stoke 0.

- Free-kickes: Albion 17, Stoke 21.

  • Albion booking: McShane (39) unsporting behaviour.
  • Stoke bookings: Russell (30) foul, Bangoura (39) unsporting behaviour, Brammer (82) foul, Duberry (87) foul.
  • Albion scorers: None.
  • Stoke scorers: Bangoura (35) and (75), Russell (68).