ALAN STUBBS, THE EVERTON defender, has called on the FA to preserve the integrity of the game after accusing Liverpool’s foreign legion of trying to get opposition players booked and sent off during a fractious Merseyside derby at Anfield.

Phil Dowd, the referee, dished out 11 bookings and brandished the red card twice — first to Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, after 18 minutes, then Andy van der Meyde, of Everton, within five minutes of the Holland winger’s appearance as a substitute in the second half — but Stubbs believes the official’s heavy-handedness was influenced by the badgering from some of Liverpool’s foreign players.

Stubbs was particularly incensed by Luis García, the Liverpool winger, but the defender fears that the problem is becoming widespread and yet is going unnoticed and unpunished. “The referee should clamp down on it if you have players coming over wanting others to get booked,” Stubbs said. “If he’s fouled someone, fair enough, but book the player who’s demanding the yellow card, too.

“It’s crept into our game lately, but it is a foreign thing. They’ve brought a lot of good things to the Premiership, but a lot of the other side, too. It’s up to the authorities to do something. We can only stop it on the pitch by asking players: ‘What are you doing?’ Ask any British player. It’s the last thing you want to see.

“García only did it once, in the first half. They speak good English, it’s not as if they don’t understand what they’re doing. There’s no place for that in football. It can be hard enough to stay on the pitch sometimes as it is, so you don’t want people trying to get people sent off for trivial things. It’s not a man thing to do. Whoever you are, no one wants to see that.”

Stubbs also accused Dowd of trying to “even it up” once Gerrard had been shown a second yellow card for a reckless lunge at Kevin Kilbane, 40 seconds after being booked for kicking the ball away, and believes Van der Meyde’s contentious dismissal for elbowing Xabi Alonso was no worse than García elbowing Kilbane in the first half, an incident that went unpunished.

Stubbs, however, conveniently neglected to mention how James Beattie, the Everton striker, was fortunate to escape censure for catching Jamie Carragher in the face with a stray arm, while his bleatings will not spare his club a £25,000 fine from the FA for incurring seven bookings and a red card. “You could sense it (that the referee wanted to send someone off),” Stubbs said. “I got booked for holding my ground in the box, as did Harry Kewell. It was pathetic and petty and it’s ruined the game.

“Most talking points will be about what the referee did. If Van der Meyde deserved to be sent off, then Garcia should have gone for elbowing Kilbane. Five years ago, maybe the referee would have let things go a bit in a derby, but these days they go by the letter of the law.”