Hero Stead gets grilling over 'dive'

Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock subjected Jon Stead to a diving inquest in the Bramall Lane dressing-room after Tuesday's win over Fulham.

United's new striker, who faces his former club Blackburn on Saturday, left the field a hero after his brilliantly taken first goal for the Blades set up a 2-0 victory.

The acclaim of the 27,000 crowd was still ringing in Stead's ears when he got an equally noisy reception from his manager but not, albeit initially, the one he might have expected.

Warnock, although delighted with the 23-year-old's impact after a £1.25million move from Sunderland, wanted to know whether Stead dived when he went to ground under a challenge from Ian Pearce, another ex- Blackburn player.

Pearce clearly thought so and was aggrieved when referee Lee Mason declined to show Stead a yellow card.

"I asked Jon the question straight out," said Warnock. "He said he didn't dive and I believe what he told me."

Having recently called for the FA to impose lengthy bans, Warnock added: "I don't like anybody who dives. I don't believe in it. I looked again at the incident in our game on Tuesday.

"It was the momentum that took Jon down from the challenge and I don't think it was a deliberate dive."

Sheffield have asked the FA to investigate Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel's controversial escape from suspension after he appeared to elbow Chris Morgan, Bramall Lane's embattled skipper, in December.

"We've written to the FA about it," said Warnock, who claims he was told by referee Mark Halsey that he had not seen the incident. "It's ridiculous and we don't understand it at all."