Whitehead: Potters are an easy target

Dean Whitehead fears he and his Stoke team-mates are soft targets for referees, after their physical style of play has come under scrutiny. Whitehead picked up his fifth booking of the season last weekend, which has ruled him out of his side's clash with Manchester United.Whilst very disappointed, the midfielder accused the referees of being too harsh on his team, as a direct result of what has been said in the press."I've no idea (why I was booked). I seemed to be the one getting pushed around, but all of a sudden I'm the one he booked," Whitehead said."I knew straight away it meant missing the United match."It was inevitable the suspension would come at some point, but I've got to say that two or three of the bookings I've got this season have been soft."Being at the club we are, and with a lot of talk in the Press about us at the minute, maybe we don't get as many chances off the refs as the bigger teams do."Our first foul is often a booking for our players, but other teams get two or three chances."

Source: Team_Talk