PREMIER LEAGUE
"I'm not a dirty player" - United's Marouane Fellaini
!["I'm not a dirty player" - United's Marouane Fellaini](https://img.asmedia.epimg.net/resizer/v2/2PQNM4FESNOUDHKGKKFIYJFYRE.jpg?auth=fe0f5d4bb135519b155ba40fc07140179112208053a9f5b0881165d34ecfad8a&width=360&height=203&smart=true)
Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini said in a Saturday television interview that he is "not a dirty player", after being branded a "thug" by former referee Howard Webb.
"OK, I am physical, I like to win my challenge, but I am not a dirty player," Fellaini told the BBC's Football Focus programme.
Webb, who refereed the 2010 World Cup final, made the 'thug' comment after Fellaini caught a couple of players with flailing elbows during United's Europa League elimination by Liverpool on Thursday.
![Fellaini protests to referee Milorad Mazic (right) after being booked at Old Trafford on Thursday night.](https://img.asmedia.epimg.net/resizer/v2/J2HEPZR72FI6HONYWUSQ4TNGWU.jpg?auth=809fb93f0475a07809129f125fdb6d7412988355fe014bacd1c48c9419242938&width=360)
He was booked for elbowing Dejan Lovren, having escaped punishment for an apparent elbow on Emre Can during United's 2-0 defeat in last week's first leg.
But while Fellaini, 28, accepts that he is an "aggressive" player, the Belgium international says that there is no malicious intent behind his on-pitch conduct.
"I don't want to elbow someone. I just defend myself," he added.
"I like to win my challenge when I play a game. In England there are a lot of physical challenges so if you want to win the game, you have to be aggressive and win your challenge.
"I never want to injure a player or to be bad. I am not like that. I just defend myself."