Paul Durkin has attempted to quell the controversy surrounding him ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup replay against Manchester United tomorrow.
United manager Alex Ferguson felt Durkin had taken too hard a line in Sunday's match and that the red cards he handed out to Paul Scholes and Roberto Di Matteo had been for "innocuous" challenges.
Durkin, though, was adamant that he was right to give Scholes and Di Matteo their marching orders. "I've seen the four yellow cards, which led to the sendingsoff, on TV and I can't see what all the fuss is about. In my opinion they were totally justified and consistent."
Wembley will host an FA Cup semi-final on Monday 12th April between Arsenal and Chelsea if Gianluca Vialli's side overcome Manchester United in their quarterfinal replay. Chelsea could be involved in Cup Winners' Cup action the previous Thursday and Wembley is unavailable on Sunday 11th because of the Wales v England Five Nations match.
The semi-final will be switched to Villa Park on Sunday April 11th (12.30) if Manchester United win Wednesday's quarter-final.
Newcastle will travel to Old Trafford to face the winners of the Barnsley v Tottenham quarter-final on April 11th (kick-off: 2.0 or 3.0).
