Peter Crouch says new rules on shirt-pulling may lead to 'a farce'

Stoke City striker Peter Crouch has said Premier League players must adapt quickly to the new roles about shirt-pulling and holding in the penalty area.

The former England star is concerned that the new guidelines might lead to a farcical number of penalty awards.

Referee Mike Dean awarded two penalties during Stoke City's 4-1 defeat against Manchester City - one against Stoke's Ryan Shawcross for impeding Nicolas Otamendi, while City's Raheem Sterling was deemed to have unfairly blocked Shawcross for the other.

"If you're going to give penalties away like that there are going to be a lot of penalties and people will be asking for consistency," Crouch said.

"I haven't seen [replays of the incidents]... but if they're penalties then you're going to be giving two or three a game and it's going to be a farce."

The shirt-pulling debate

Are those two penalties a sign of things to come?

The 35-year-old, an unused substitute in Saturday's match, said he viewed holding as an integral part of the game and forecast "a long season for defenders."

"[But] it's just something we're going to have to learn to adapt to."