Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed he will not challenge the dismissal he received at Bolton Wanderers last week.

The Manchester United manager was sent to the stands by Mark Clattenburg, the referee at the Reebok Stadium, after a finger-jabbing rant at Clattenburg as he entered the tunnel at half-time.

Ferguson felt the official had allowed Bolton away with too many unfair challenges including, in particular, a tackle by Kevin Davies on Patrice Evra.

Ferguson spent the second half in the directors' box and was charged by the Football Association with using "abusive and insulting words towards a match official".

United have been given until December 11 to respond but Ferguson will not bother. "We will just accept it," said the Scot, who may receive a fine or touchline ban.

Ferguson is unrepentant about his grievance over Clattenburg's performance, saying that refereeing standards were "slipping"within the English game.

He did not attend a pre-season briefing for managers by Keith Hackett, the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, the Football Association A body that manages officials.

But Ferguson claimed one of the central components of the discussion has been ignored. "At the summer conference, Keith Hackett was on about tackling from behind," he said.

"He made a promise to the managers that tackles with raised feet off the ground would be a red card and that tackles from the back would be a red card.

"Standards must be slipping because there have been some bad tackles recently, not just in our games but in quite a few others. And what happens then is that if someone gets seriously injured? Who gets the blame? The referee gets the blame."