Former Premiership ref Graham Poll has slammed match officials for booking Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher for diving against CSKA Moscow this week.

Fletcher insists he deserved a penalty and not a booking for the incident.

In his column for the Daily Mail, Poll wrote: "Fletcher is one of the most decent players in the game and to see him cautioned for diving on Tuesday evening was a slur on this honest professional footballer.

To argue that he deserved some payback for his combative style is nonsensical. Yes, he escaped a yellow card which he should have collected against Arsenal when he made seven foul challenges without being punished, but what does that have to do with a different game and different circumstances?

"If you book a player for simulation, you are branding him a cheat, which is why all referees should show caution before punishing a player in this way."