Wigan Athletic boss Roberto Martinez says it's time to reign-in the Premiership's over-zealous tackling.
Arsene Wenger branded the three-match ban given to Stoke's Ryan Shawcross as 'just ridiculous' after the defender was sent off for a tackle that left Aaron Ramsey with a broken leg in Arsenal's 3-1 victory at Stoke last weekend.
Birmingham's Liam Ridgewell was shown no card for a robust challenge on Latics midfielder James McCarthy the same day, and Martinez believes more should be done to encourage creativity and eradicate bad tackles.
"The hardest thing in football is to be constructive and creative, and to produce the kind of attractive play that everybody wants to see," Martinez told the Wigan Evening Post.
"It makes football what it is, and I agree that the referees should be stronger and look to protect the flair players a little bit more.
"With those sorts of over-physical challenges, you have a lot to lose - and the rules should help the attacking players.
"A tackle does not have to be malicious to be dangerous. If it is mis-timed, you can still put someone's career on hold for nine months, which is a big price to pay.
"Paying the price of a broken leg because you are trying to be a creative player is too much of a risk. The rules should be a bit stricter."