Sir Alex Ferguson has asked for better protection from referees for Cristiano Ronaldo, after our winger felt the studs of Joan Capdevila on his knee during Tuesday night’s Champions League game.

Whilst this country is overly concern with Ronaldo’s dives, those with an interest in United tend to be far more worried about our best player getting crocked, after he is kicked up and down the pitch in every match he plays, sometimes more heavily than others.

However, Barnsley boss, Simon Davey, reckons that the FA do protect Ronaldo, and in light of their failure to punish Chris Morgan for an elbow which left Iain Hume with a fractured skull thinks Manchester United would have ensured an appropriate punishment was given.

“I am angry and disappointed,” said Davey. “I think that they’ve let down Iain Hume badly and let down Barnsley Football Club. I think that had it been Cristiano Ronaldo, (Sir) Alex Ferguson and Manchester United, the decision they gave would have been different.”

I refer Davey to this video, where just one of these ‘challenges’ was deemed worthy of a red card by the referee, despite the opposition’s clear intention to hurt the player with no concern for winning the ball.