Mark Hughes is unhappy that Shaun Wright-Phillips will serve the same three-game ban as his assailant, Stoke's Rory Delap. Delap was sent off at the Britannia Stadium for twice kicking Manchester City's Wright-Phillips from behind.

But the City player's retaliation was missed by referee Martin Atkinson who has since told the Football Association that he would also have dismissed Wright-Phillips had he spotted the reaction.

"Yes, what Shaun did was retaliation. But was it violent?" questioned Hughes.

"It was a human reaction to a situation that was not of his making.

"Shaun was hacked down from behind and the guy followed through on him. In my mind that is violent conduct.

"To have the same three-game ban as Rory Delap is incorrect but that is what we are faced with at the moment."

City are also investigating whether the FA fell foul of their own rule book by charging Wright-Phillips outside the usual 48-hour timescale.