Chelsea Football Club News

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Hackett leaps to Poll defence

10 Nov 2006 - 08:13:17

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Referees' chief Keith Hackett has leapt to the defence of under-fire official Graham Poll following his week in the spotlight.

Poll has been widely criticised for sending off Chelsea skipper John Terry in their defeat at Tottenham last weekend then found himself at the centre of a storm in midweek by dismissing Everton's James McFadden in the Carling Cup.

McFadden was given his marching orders for allegedly calling Poll a cheat, but the Scotland international vehemently denied the claims afterwards.

"Despite what people might think, I know Graham Poll is a world-class referee," Hackett told BBC Radio Five Live.

"He had a blip at the World Cup, that's for sure. I've worked hard with him over the summer to come back and officiate."

However, Hackett has refused to overreact despite the relationship between referees, players and managers coming under strain.

"We have had a blip. I'm not going to overreact, and neither are the referees," he continued.

"There is criticism - we will examine very carefully the performances of the referees and we will look to improve.

"What I have tried to do in refereeing since I took over was help the lines of communication in order to ensure that we don't get the image of the game damaged."