Tony Pulis was upset to see Mike Dean take charge of his the Stoke City v Tottenham Hotspur Premier League fixture on Saturday afternoon.

In a disastrous four minute spell for Stoke, Eidur Gudjohnsen opened the scoring for Spurs, and Dean Whitehead was shown a red card by referee Dean.

Although Matthew Etherington levelled from the spot, Harry Redknapp’s men went on to secure the three points at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a Niko Kranjcar goal.

"I rang Mike Riley on Wednesday and told him my concerns about Mike Dean,” said Pulis. “I was just seeing if we could change the referee because we weren't happy.

"He made a bad decision down at Portsmouth and I wanted to see if we could at least avoid him until the end of the season. We sent a letter and followed it up in the right and proper manner.

"I just thought it (the sending off) was a very, very poor decision. We've had him earlier in the season and he's made poor decisions and we compiled stats on him."

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