Ferguson questions referees' approach to Chelsea

MANCHESTER, England, Nov 10 (Reuters) Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has questioned whether title rivals Chelsea are being given preferential treatment after their recent clash with referee Graham Poll.

Referees' chief Keith Hackett agreed to meet Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho after some of his players questioned Poll's handling of last Sunday's game when captain John Terry was sent off in Chelsea's defeat by Tottenham.

''Now that Keith Hackett is meeting Jose Mourinho, what is going on in this world?'' Ferguson asked reporters today.

''Does he ever to go meet (Arsenal manager) Arsene Wenger, or (Liverpool's) Rafa Benitez or this old guy here ? ''Is there preference going out to Chelsea because there was a bad decision against them? It seems to be absolutely ludicrous.'' Ferguson believes Poll, who was sent home early from the World Cup finals in June for showing the same player three yellow cards in a game between Croatia and Australia, is the best referee in England.

''That's why he gets the big games, because he's the best at making the big decisions,'' said the United manager.

Ferguson believes it may now be wrong to put Poll in charge of United's match against Chelsea at Old Trafford on November. 26, however.

''I would (like him) in a way, but with all this controversy I don't know whether it would be a good thing. I'm fearing he gets the game with all the controversy about Chelsea,'' he said.

United have a three-point lead over Chelsea and Ferguson is looking for a strong showing at Blackburn Rovers tomorrow after the shock of being dumped out of the League Cup on Tuesday by second division Southend.

''There is a growing confidence among the squad itself, although I don't want to get too confident because there are a lot of potholes ahead and they will trip up somewhere,'' he said.

''The important thing is how you recover and make sure you have a consistency that champions have got, which we've had many times.'' With no fresh injury worries, Ferguson plans to name an unchanged side for the trip to Blackburn, who are 13th in the table after losing their last three league games.

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