Moyes hopes for strong refereeing in derby

By Eleanor Crooks

David Moyes hopes referee Andre Marriner will not be the deciding factor in tomorrow's Merseyside derby.

The Everton boss was furious after last season's defeat by Liverpool at Goodison Park when Jack Rodwell was sent off early for a tackle on Luis Suarez, a decision that was later rescinded.

Everton have already been dealt a blow with the absence of key midfielder Steven Pienaar, who was shown a red card in last weekend's 1-1 draw at QPR and serves a one-match ban.

The South African's second yellow card for a foul on Jose Bosingwa also earned Moyes' wrath, and he feels Everton have been on the wrong end of a number of decisions so far this season.

The Scot said: "We've got to be careful. People are going to turn away from football if they continue to go to watch people who throw themselves on the ground when they're not touched.

"I think it's important you do get someone who's strong enough to identify what are the right challenges and the wrong ones, and in last year's game we got really badly done by a terrible refereeing decision."

The loss of Pienaar could be alleviated by the return of midfielder Marouane Fellaini, who missed last weekend's game after picking up a knee injury.

The Belgian has returned to light training, while long-serving full-back Tony Hibbert could also feature after more than a month out with a calf injury.