Tony Pulis has reignited his row with Arsene Wenger by claiming Wolverhampton Wanderers' likely survival has vindicated Mick McCarthy's decision to play a weakened team at Old Trafford in December, reports The Times. Pulis believes the likes of Wolves and Stoke have to abide by a different set of rules to those followed by Arsenal and the other top teams.

And the Potters chief argues that Karl Henry, Wolves' former Stoke player, was sent off in a 1-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium last Saturday only because the Arsenal players hounded the referee - and with impunity.

"The problem is that there are rules for some clubs and rules for others," Pulis said. "A certain person coming out and criticising Mick for that action actually triggered off an FA response which, for me, was totally unjustified.

"I've never known a manager put a team out who he hasn't wanted to win, especially McCarthy. He's a very competitive person. The team that's playing well now, [seven] of them were playing at Old Trafford. That vindicates what Mick was talking about. If you're paying people and have professional players in your squad who's to say who can play and who can't play? For me personally, it was nothing short of disgraceful what they did.

"I thought Karl Henry's sending off was very harsh on Saturday and the reaction of the Arsenal players was very poor. It's something that's coming into the game and has to be addressed. If the FA want to do something positive, it's stopping people from surrounding referees.

"They bring it out about 18 months ago, but they seem to have put it back in the cupboard because it seems to be the big clubs who surround the referees and put pressure on them. And they're never going to act against them, are they?"