"I think, as the coach says, the referees have to do their job and if it's a red card they have to give the red card. They are not doing that over the last few months"
Thursday 1 February 2018 23:46, UK
Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne have called on referees to "punish" players who are guilty of poor challenges and has indicated that officials have not been doing that this season.
The Premier League leaders have been on the receiving end of a number of aggressive challenges in recent weeks and saw influential forward Leroy Sane ruled out for up to six weeks with ankle ligament damage sustained in City's FA Cup fourth-round victory against Cardiff.
Silva saw team-mates De Bruyne and Brahim Diaz fortunate to avoid injuries from reckless tackles by James McClean and Matt Phillips, who received a yellow card, during City's 3-0 league win over West Brom on Wednesday.
"Obviously. It's clear over the last few months - we've seen with Leroy," Silva said, when asked whether Guardiola's side were being targeted.
"It was a terrible accident and now he's injured for two months - a very important player. (On Wednesday) it could have been Brahim and it could have been Kevin on the second goal.
"I think, as the coach says, the referees have to do their job and if it's a red card they have to give the red card. They are not doing that over the last few months.
"We hope that soon they start protecting our players because the way other teams are tackling our players it's not part of the game, it's not fair play and they have to try to punish the players that play this way."
When asked about the tackle McClean made on him, De Bruyne said: "Let's just say the ball was not in the neighbourhood.
"The referee told me he didn't touch me good enough to get the red card but obviously I told him 'I saw the guy, I was jumping'."
De Bruyne also questioned the referees as well as his opponents, adding: "Sometimes it gets frustrating for us. A lot of teams are making a lot of fouls against us.
"We make a foul, we get a yellow card. I don't know how it's possible sometimes.
"I don't know what they are thinking - you can also pull a shirt, that's more effective than a tackle."
Guardiola, who has admitted he has been surprised by the leniency shown by referees since his arrival into English football, said his side had been "lucky" to avoid further injury absences ahead of their packed run-in as the club fight on four fronts but his own side were involved in some questionable incidents of their own in the fixture against the Baggies.
David Silva was forced off injured after he made a late challenge on Claudio Yacob while Fernandinho stood on Grzegorz Krychowiak but the incident was deemed as accidental by referee Robert Madley.
