DERBY rival Robbie Savage has backed El-Hadji Diouf as condemnation of the Bolton striker's alleged diving antics reached fever pitch.

Blackburn's new £3m signing was bitterly disappointed to be on the losing side when he made his debut in Monday night's Ewood Park duel, which was decided when Diouf controversially won the penalty that secured a 1-0 win for Wanderers.

But he refused to blame the Senegal star, insisting that the onus had been on referee Steve Bennett to decide whether Rovers keeper Brad Friedel had made contact with Diouf or not.

"A lot of players will go down in the box if there's any contact, so I'm not blaming him for that," Savage said.

"But if the referee has a good view, then he has a decision to make. He either gives the penalty or sends you off for diving, and he obviously decided to give the penalty in this instance.

"All the boys said it wasn't a penalty and that Brad was nowhere near him. But penalties get given and some you get, some you don't. You've just got to hope they even themselves out over the course of the season."

There has been strong reaction to the incident from all sections of the game with referee's chief, Keith Hackett, calling for football to tackle the "scourge", while players union boss, Gordon Taylor, said players had a responsibility to set an example.

The PFA chief executive, said: "All members have a duty to show respect to the referee, not to make his job more difficult and not to exaggerate contact or no contact at all in order to get the opposition booked or sent off."

Frank Clark, the vice-chairman of the League Managers Association, believes managers should always instruct their players to follow the rules of the game.

"The manager has a responsibility, as do the Professional Footballers' Association," Clark said. "Both groups have come out and have spoken about the problem, but it's very difficult because they cannot do anything when the players are on the pitch.

"Every manager wants his players to act in the right way; in the days of Brian Clough or even in my days as a manager it wasn't an issue. It happened perhaps once every 10 seasons.

"The manager has to accept responsibility. I'm sure they speak to players and try to do something about it, but there will still be incidents on the pitch they cannot do anything about."

Sam Allardyce acknowledged that Friedel had not made contact with Diouf and that Wanderers had got lucky, but he dismissed suggestions that "simulation", as it is now known, was a scourge on the modern game.

"It has always gone on," the Wanderers manager said. "When I was playing, you only had to blow on some players and they would dive. Some of them became legends but theyd do anything to get a penalty."

Hackett, who was at the Ewood Park game, wanted the FA to consider charging Diouf with improper conduct, as they did with Wanderers defender Tal Ben Haim for "over-reacting" when he was pushed in the face by Wayne Rooney in the recent Premiership derby at Old Trafford. But Diouf will not face any disciplinary action.

FA rules stipulate that their compliance unit only get involved in incidents which officials do not see during games, as in the Ben Haim case. A spokesman confirmed that if a referee makes a decision, as Bennett did at Ewood, that decision is final, regardless of whether television replays later prove it to be right or wrong.

Hackett said: "I was particularly disappoiinted the referee was deceived by a clear act of simulation.

"The incident highlights the work we have to do to improve our detection of simulation. It is a scourge in the game. I'm looking for the support of managers and players to try to act fairly."