Hughes Blasts Foreign Fakers

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has accused foreign Premier League players of being serial simulators following his side's weekend loss to Wigan Athletic...

Wigan claimed the points at the JJB Stadium thanks to Amr Zaki's first-half penalty, which set the scores at 2-1 after City's Vincent Kompany had cancelled out Luis Antonio Valencia's 16th-minute opener.

It was a controversial call from referee Steve Bennett, as Honduran midfielder Wilson Palacios certainly made the most of what little contact he received from Javier Garrido's challenge.

Hughes made no attempt to hide his frustration with the decision, insisting Bennet made a number of crucial errors that influenced the result.

"We felt it was an extremely harsh penalty. The lad is clearly looking to gain an advantage and dived theatrically," he said in The Sun. 

"We wondered if it was because of where the referee was standing but it wasn’t."

Diving has become a thorny issue in English football over the last few years, with many pointing to the influx of imported talent as the source of problem.

Opinions remains divided, however, as some pundits believe British players are every bit as guilty of faking for a free-kick as the likes of Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Hughes insisted homegrown stars are nowhere near as wily as foreign players when it comes to hoodwinking referees.

"I didn’t use to fall down as easily as some foreign players," added the former Manchester United forward. 

"They are a bit more adept at winning free-kicks than British ones. The ability to draw fouls is seen as a skill. 

"Yet maybe this is what we have to expect from this point onwards."