Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate turned on Chelsea counterpart Luiz Felipe Scolari after their 2-0 defeat last night.

Southgate accused Scolari of attempting to get one of his players sent off during their 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea coach Scolari appeared to wave an imaginary card at referee Lee Probert after Mohamed Shawky, who had already been booked, was penalised for handball.

Scolari's gesture incensed Middlesbrough's assistant coach Malcolm Crosby and the pair exchanged words just before half-time.

Southgate also revealed that Scolari had refused to shake hands at the end of the game which Chelsea won 2-0 thanks to a brace of goals from Salomon Kalou.

The win lifted Chelsea into second place in the table and kept Middlesbrough entrenched in the bottom three.

"There were words between my assistant and Phil Scolari," said Southgate. "He seemed to want to get one of my players booked. He didn't shake hands at the end. A strange reaction, but that's his prerogative."

Chelsea's assistant coach Ray Wilkins insisted there was no problem with the Middlesbrough bench over Scolari's action.

Wilkins confirmed that he did shake hands with Southgate but went on to say: "It's a very emotional game, isn't it? Passions run high.

"They ran high on their bench. They did on ours. That's the way the game is played.

"It's played with great passion on the pitch and off it, whether it is with supporters or managers. I shook hands. It was a nothing conversation.

"I didn't even see the incident, to be honest. If the referee felt he (Scolari) needed to be sent to the stands, he would have done that.

"But he didn't do that. The referee obviously felt quite comfortable with the situation, and Steve Bennett (fourth official) was on the side and he obviously felt okay with the situation."