SAM Allardyce has called on referees to give Kevin Davies more protection.

The Reebok boss says opposition defenders are being allowed to snuff out the threat from his main striker by illegal means.

Allardyce is concerned by what he calls the battering Davies is getting in games and says it is having an adverse effect on the team's performance.

The target man's huge size and strength and his reluctance to dive like many of his contempories makes it more difficult for referees to spot when he has been impeded.

Allardyce says Davies is getting an equally rough deal from referees as his fellow front man El-Hadji Diouf - but for opposite reasons.

He says both players are suffering from being pre-judged by officials in different ways.

"Pre-judgement is a problem," he said. "Referees already have an image of what a player is like and they should not let that affect their decisions.

"I have it in opposite ways with El-Hadji Diouf and Kevin Davies.

"Davies is getting battered and he is not getting any free kicks for it.

"It is having the effect on him in that he is not playing as well as he can.

"I see both sides of the argument. You don't want players simulating injury but you want referees to see when a foul has been committed. It is a hard job for refs."

Allardyce acknowledges that Diouf makes life difficult for himself by going to ground too easily but the manager insists his on-loan player never goes down when he has not been touched.

"There's only Diouf to blame when he goes down too easily," Allardyce said.

"Because of that referees are going to scrutinise it even more closely when he goes down.

"Whenever he goes down there has always been some contact, great or small.

"He is one of many players who uses his skills to do what he does and go to ground when he has been fouled."