Blackwell amazed by 'stupid' appointment of Dean for play-off final

Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell has attacked the "stupid" appointment of referee Mike Dean for the Championship play-off final.

Dean has not taken charge of a match involving Blackwell's team since he sent off United defender Matthew Kilgallon in the Sheffield derby last October, which United lost 1-0. Blackwell said the decision to put Dean in control "throws common sense out of the window".

"I have not asked for the referee to be changed but I am waiting for an explanation for the stupidity of people in making this decision," he said. "Mike is a good referee but he had a poor game that day and everyone knows the controversy over the red card. Now he is going to have 40,000 United fans at Wembley who know that his last performance in front of us cost us the game. Everybody will be looking at him for a controversial decision. Imagine if he makes another cock-up – how stupid is that?"