SAM Allardyce threw a spanner into Arsenal works when he put referee Phil Dowd on the spot ahead of Saturday's clash with the Premiership's record-breakers.

The Wanderers boss claimed referees subconsciously favour the big clubs because they cannot handle the big match pressure.

Turning the spotlight on Stoke official Dowd, he said: "If it happens again Saturday, I'll be bitterly disappointed."

Allardyce, who infuriated Arsene Wenger when he made similar remarks before a game two seasons ago, highlighted the three red cards Wanderers received in their first four encounters with the Gunners after returning to the Premiership.

"We haven't beaten Arsenal in four seasons but many a time we've come within a whisker of getting a result and had it snatched away for one reason or another," he said, listing the decisions that cost Wanderers as many as five points.

He described Ricardo Gardner's red card in the 1-1 draw at Highbury in 2001-02 as "a diabolical decision, which you always get when you go to Arsenal -- they never go in your favour they always go against you".

He highlighted the dismissal of Ivan Campo the following season, a decision later rescinded but which contributed to a 2-1 defeat courtesy of a hotly-contested late winner from Kanu.

And he maintained that Florent Laville's red card at the Reebok that season cost Wanderers a win after they had come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.

"We seem to always be fighting against the odds when we play them," Allardyce added. "I'm not suggesting for one minute that's Arsenal's fault, but we've had six games and had three players sent off. I just don't know where the refs get their decisions from when we play against the big clubs. But I've proven time and again to Keith Hackett (referees' chief) that there is a problem.

"If we play well and Arsenal beat us, then fair enough because our very best might not be good enough to even get a point against a team that's possibly the best in Europe, if not the world. We accept that. All we want to do is to play our best and get a fair crack of the whip and hope Arsenal are not at their best."

Allardyce angered Wenger in the build up to the 2-2 draw in April 2003, when he claimed his own players needed protection from Arsenal's over-physical approach. That, the Arsenal boss said, put undue pressure on the referee.

But the Reebok boss, who is in awe of Arsenal's 45-match unbeaten Premiership run, says he has good reason to raise such issues, although he does not believe referees intentionally favour one team.

"I don't think referees decide they are going to stick to the bigger club, but, subconsciously, they can't get over it," he added.

"It appears when referees have a poor game, it's in the big guys' favour.

"They're human and it's very difficult. Subconsciously our players will go with fear and maybe sometimes referees go with a little bit of fear about giving the decision against the big guys on their own patch and its repercussions.

"Unfortunately, we haven't yet developed a robot with no emotions who can handle a football match.

"I just hope we have a good game of football and, one way or the other, it's not decided on a bad decision but on who is the best or the luckiest team on the day."