Mark Hughes sends his Fulham side out against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night warning that the big teams get the benefit of the big decisions from referees.

The Fulham boss has sympathy with Stoke manager Tony Pulis who has criticised a plethora of bad decisions this season and who called earlier his week for bad referees to be relegated to the championship.

The man in the middle at Stamford Bridge is Martin Atkinson, the referee who came under fire from Pulis for his handling of Stoke's 2-0 defeat at Sunderland at the weekend when he failed to give a penalty when Lee Cattermole clearly handled the ball on the line.

Hughes said: "Do big clubs get the benefit of decisions? As a player at Manchester United I would have said absolutely not. But as a manager going up against the so-called 'Big Four' clubs, I have a different view, possibly.

"There's a natural tendency, it's human nature. Sometimes the consequences of giving a decision against a big side are too much for some referees to take. It's difficult for them.

"There's no way I'm questioning the integrity because it's split-second decisions and it's human nature sometimes that you take the easy option."

Hughes admitted that he had been frustrated by that refereeing tendency at both Fulham and when he was at unfashionable Blackburn.

He added: "You just want consistency in decisions and most of the season you will get that. But the key decisions, the key elements of the game where a decision actually affects the outcome of the result, those are the ones you want the referees to get correct and of late it seems too many of them have been given incorrect.

"I'm not for one minute saying that we get badly treated in terms of refereeing decisions.

"We've had a number that have gone against us but there are a number of clubs aggrieved by decisions that are made against them. You just hope the referees are able to really get those key ones right."

Hughes has problems in defence where Mexican defender Carlos Salcido is sidelined with ruptured ankle ligaments suffered in the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa at the weekend. He will be out for three to four weeks. Damien Duff is likely to come in.

Fulham will also be missing defender Chris Baird who has suffered a thigh tear and is likely to be out for 10 days.

Fulham have never beaten league leaders Chelsea in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge and their last victory there against their closest London rivals came in 1979.

But Hughes, who spent three years at Stamford Bridge as a player, said: "You have to be positive. Too many teams go to the likes of Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford and they are beaten before they go on the pitch. That is not the attitude or the mentality that I want from my team.

"I had a great three years there (at Stamford Bridge). I left Manchester United and everybody would say you were on the way down and that was the end of your career.

"But I went to the right club and was able to win three trophies in three years. The club had started to move in the right direction. I played a small part in where they are today and I am proud of that."