Blackburn Rovers v LiverpoolKENNY DALGLISH risks being charged by the Football Association after he questioned the integrity of match officials and blasted the "inexcusable" decisions he feels have gone against his Liverpool side in their past three games. The manager went as far as suggesting some people may believe Liverpool are on the receiving end of a referees' "conspiracy".

Dalglish was upset Dirk Kuyt was not awarded a penalty in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa – the referee, Michael Oliver, told the forward he was unlucky, according to his manager – and by the booking of Luis Suarez for diving with the Scot claiming the striker had been trodden on.

Referring to Liverpool’s defeat by Wigan, when Suarez had a goal disallowed for handball, and that at Newcastle United in the next match, when Liverpool were denied a penalty after the ball hit Danny Simpson’s arm on the line, Dalglish said: “The last three games there are blatant decisions that have gone against us that are, frankly, inexcusable, and I’d say unexplainable as well.

“I won’t raise it with the Referees’ Association. I’ve raised it now and it’s up to them. I think it really should be their concern. To not get a penalty because an opponent is unlucky, surely that’s not my concern but the concern of the Referees’ Association because they have got to look at something like that. I am stating a fact.”

Dalglish questioned the integrity of referees, which will be of concern to the FA. “I know where we are coming from,” he said. “I know we have integrity in bucketloads but I can’t speak for other people and whether they have integrity. It would be helpful if they explained the decisions to us, or even just held their hands up and say, ‘Sorry I got that wrong’, and we can see they have integrity . . . But a wee bit of respect towards us would help the situation immensely. Otherwise people might think there is a conspiracy.”

Guardian Service