Peterborough United manager on petty yellow cards and inconsistent referees

Ferguson has sympathy for modern-day footballers because of how matches are policed by officials these days, but he also believes they can avoid trouble by recognising what referees will punish with yellow cards. Key midfielder Archie Collins has already served a one-match suspension after collecting five cautions in 10 matches, while Sam Curtis is one caution away from a ban. Emmanuel Fernandez, Oscar Wallin and Jack Sparkes have all picked up three yellow cards in League One matches this season.

Even young full-back James Dornelly has picked up four yellow cards in seven appearances, although one was in an EFL Trophy game so won’t count towards a possible League One suspension. Dornelly’s last two cautions have been for celebrating a goal and then arguing with the match referee.

"These days you can get booked very little,” Ferguson said. “That’s the first thing the players have to realise. You won’t get away with anything. I don’t want to turn this into a thing about referees, but there just isn’t much consistency. The real serious stuff can go amiss and the real petty stuff gets punished.

"It’s the same for managers. Me and the Birmingham manager were both booked for retrieving the ball when we played there. I mean, come on. It’s just ridiculous. We’ve not dived into the crowd and punched someone.

"But we have to be mindful of how the games are refereed and act accordingly. Archie picking up five bookings in 10 games was disappointing. We have Sam Curtis on four bookings and some others have three. The amnesty for five yellow cards is the 19th game which is Northampton away and it can play on your mind when you reach four and you know one tackle will cause you to miss a game."

Collins is available for the game at Wycombe which will be refereed by experienced official Lee Swabey. Swabey has issued 37 yellow cards in seven appearances this season, with five or more shown in four of those games.