Ferguson Demands Protection for 'victim' Ronaldo

Sir Alex Ferguson has called on referees to provide greater protection for Cristiano Ronaldo in order to prevent the Manchester United winger from sustaining serious injury.

Ronaldo was sent off for violent conduct during his side's 1-1 draw at Portsmouth on Wednesday night after aiming a headbutt at Richard Hughes, but Ferguson believes his player was provoked by a series of heavy challenges that went unpunished by the referee Steve Bennett.

"My fear is, and I don't whether there is a directive, but maybe referees are a bit more tolerant of the physical contact," he said. "I've noticed this in the last few months - late challenges are going unpunished. I thought these things were black and white: late challenges are not allowed.

"We saw it again on Wednesday night, the referee letting it go unpunished time and time again. If you have got weak referees then you are going to be suffering. There is a concern players like Ronaldo are going to be the victims ... because it will end up with someone getting a serious injury."

Although Ferguson accepts that his player deserved to get his marching orders, he was surprisingly sympathetic. "It's very difficult to completely punish Ronaldo or be angry with him," he said. "Some of the things that are happening to him are not right."

Ronaldo will miss Sunday's derby at Manchester City through suspension and the champions with be further weakened in attack without injured pair Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha. Ferguson was impressed with Carlos Tevez's debut at Portsmouth and could partner him with Ryan Giggs as United look for their first win of the season. After opening with two draws they already trail Chelsea and Manchester City, who have taken maximum points under new manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, by four points.

"We are dropping points and that's frustrating because the performance levels were very good," Ferguson added. "The important thing is just to be patient now. The players will come right. It's frustrating, but it's recoverable of course."