Sport

Hunt accuses Arsenal players of getting Milijas sent off

STEPHEN HUNT has accused Arsenal’s players of crowding the referee Stuart Attwell to force the dismissal of Nenad Milijas and…

DAVID HYTNER
Thu Dec 29 2011 - 00:00

STEPHEN HUNT has accused Arsenal’s players of crowding the referee Stuart Attwell to force the dismissal of Nenad Milijas and the Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder believes that his team may have to adopt similar cynical tactics.

Attwell’s decision to show a straight red card to Milijas in the 1-1 draw at Emirates Stadium was contentious; Milijas tackled Mikel Arteta at full stretch and the Wolves manager, Mick McCarthy, also felt that he had played the ball. Wolves have appealed for the card, and the automatic three-match ban, to be overturned.

The challenge prompted tempers to fray and Hunt suggested that Arsenal players had pressured Attwell into reaching for the red card. McCarthy also commented on how the “rarefied atmosphere” at the Emirates was a “difficult place to work in, whether you are a player, coach, manager, referee or an assistant”.

Moments earlier, the Arsenal midfielder Alex Song had lunged in on Steven Fletcher and Hunt, leaving them on the floor, only to escape with a yellow card.

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Hunt felt that Song had left his boot in, with the studs up.

“The Milijas red card was harsh, it was more with one leg,” Hunt said. “Players are clever and the reactions sometimes do not help the referee. Everyone does it now. We should maybe be better at it. We should have been surrounding the referee. Every team does it. We don’t do it and we get punished. Maybe we should start doing it.”

Attwell’s appearance at the Emirates marked his return to Premier League duties after his controversial decision to send off Bolton’s Gary Cahill at Tottenham. That red card was overturned following an appeal. Attwell’s next assignment was Crewe v Crawley Town.

Hunt, though, spoke up in support of the official. “I like Stuart Attwell,” he said. “He is always respectful on the pitch, he is always talking and he is learning the game as well.

“He is an up-and-coming referee. I will take it on the chin if he makes a mistake. I can make a mistake and so can he. Maybe Song’s tackle on me could have been a red so it is one of those things.”