MARK Hughes has called for a strong performance from referee Mike Riley as Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal prepare to resume their simmering rivalry in the Carling Cup tonight.

Hughes is convinced certain referees have a pre-determined view of Rovers, which is based on comments made by the likes of Arsenal duo Arsene Wenger and Robin Van Persie.

Earlier this season, Wenger accused certain Blackburn players of having a desire for violence', after the two clubs were involved in a feisty 1-1 draw at Ewood Park.

Then a week later, in a provocative interview with The Sunday Times, Van Persie further fanned the flames by accusing Rovers of crossing the border' of acceptability in terms of their physical approach.

Now Hughes is concerned Rovers are starting to pay the price for those kind of remarks, because he is adamant certain referees are treating his players differently compared to others in the league.

"Certainly in the past, teams have put comments out leading into games in an effort to influence the referees. It's a touch of the dark arts, I suppose," said the Rovers chief.

"But it's important that the referees are strong in these games - strong and fair.

"I looked at the games on Sunday (between Arsenal and Chelsea, and Liverpool and Manchester United) and saw some challenges, which could have been straight reds, yet the referees were asking the big-name players to come over and have a chat to calm it down.

"They tend to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I don't see that where Blackburn Rovers are concerned.

"I just see yellow cards coming out too readily and, as a consequence, we are always on a tightrope with sendings-off.

"We have had four situations in our last six games now where we've finished the match with 10-men, albeit one of those was due to an injury.

"That's too hard to take, and we do feel that there is a perception from referees that they have to referee us in a certain way, and that's wrong."

While Brett Emerton became the fifth Blackburn player this season to receive a red card when he was dismissed for two bookable offences at Wigan on Saturday, Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue escaped a red card for a dangerous lunge at Chelsea skipper John Terry 24 hours later, and it's that kind of inconsistency which makes Hughes' blood boil.

"Some tackles merited straight reds on Sunday," said the Rovers boss, whose side is currently bottom of the Fair Play League, having accrued five red and 35 yellow cards in 17 Premier League games so far this season.

"There is a place for being competitive, but my gripe is that, in the high-profile games, because of the reaction that would be prompted if a high-profile player was sent off, referees tend to err away from making those decisions.

"They are more inclined to make the decisions to book or send players off in our games, though.

"Arsenal don't pick up yellows and reds for the challenges that we get penalised for.

"Referees will say, by the letter of the law, incidents are either red or yellow cards. We don't complain about that, but we just want to see the games refereed in a fair way.

"That's not questioning the integrity of referees. They just seem to give high-profile players the benefit of the doubt and Blackburn players don't get that, I feel."

Recent encounters between Rovers and Arsenal have proved to be spiky affairs and, with a semi-final place at stake for the victors, tonight's meeting is expected to be no different.

Hughes added: "There always seems to be a tone leading into games against Arsenal, where people tend to highlight our misdemeanours and how we approach the game.

"We obviously had another guy sent off at the weekend, so that perpetuates the myth. But if we competed in the manner we are supposed to compete, then we wouldn't have been beaten at Wigan.

"There is a balance to be found. We want to play football and we have done for large parts of the season, but maybe we have gone too much away from the qualities we need to be competitive. So we have to get the balance right."