Former Leeds United man Noel Whelan has ripped into Matheus Pereira following West Brom's defeat to Huddersfield Town last night.

West Brom failed to pick up maximum points against Huddersfield, securing Leeds United's promotion to the Premier League after a 16-year absence.

The Baggies were nowhere near their best, as goals from Chris Willock and Emile Smith Rowe secured a vital for three points for Danny Cowley's side.

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Matheus Pereira - who has been simply tremendous for Albion this season - was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons for the second successive game.

Pereira's reaction after being tapped on the head by Michael Hector against Fulham was criticised by plenty of fans on social media, and his theatrics against Huddersfield caused anger too.

As he tried to grab the ball off Trevoh Chalobah, the Huddersfield Town man pushed the Brazilian in the back, but Pereira seemingly went down holding his face.

Speaking to Football Insider, Noel Whelan has slammed Pereira for his actions, after saying that his "diving" is becoming an issue.

He said: "That’s one part of his makeup that I guess we’ll have to put up with. It’s just the way he is but take nothing away from him, he is their star man.

"Hopefully players like that will learn – Benrahma did it the other night as well, I hate to see that. They’re good enough players not to have to try and cheat.

"That’s all it is when it comes down to it at the end of the day – it’s cheating, trying to get a free-kick or a foul or a penalty or someone else booked. It’s not the way I like to see the game played."

The Verdict

There can be no denying that Pereira is an exceptionally talented player who has been excellent for West Brom under Slaven Bilic this term.

He is a silky playmaker who attracts a lot of fouls, but he makes the most out of it and his diving and theatrics does get quite annoying after a while.

It will be his fault when he's shown a second yellow card and missed an important game in the race for promotion, so that might help him learn.