Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce admits he subbed El Hadji Diouf for the defeat to Stoke City over concerns with ref Howard Webb.
The Rovers boss admitted he subbed 'reactive' Senegal star, 29, after he was booked by Webb early in the second half for a push on Jermaine Pennant.
He said: "Howard sent him off at Aston Villa last season.
"It doesn't look like he's one of his favourite players does it?
"He was often more intent on what Dioufy was doing than what was actually happening on the field.
"It wasn't a difficult decision to take him off, it was about protecting him in case he committed another foul that got him sent off.
"Dioufy was fine when I took him off because he knew we didn't want to go down to 10 men."
