Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew believes that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was lucky to avoid a ban after his confrontation with referee Mike Dean.

Ferguson clashed with Dean after he awarded Newcastle a goal by overturning a decision from his assistant during the match between the two clubs on Boxing Day.

Dean revealed after the game that he had no complaints with the conduct of Ferguson but Pardew has insisted that he has received suspensions for similar "cordial discussions".

Pardew told reporters: "Sometimes when you reflect on a game you think you might have acted differently. You do that as a manager and I think that he might have done that as a referee.

"But it's an emotional game and apparently they had a cordial discussion. I've had a few of those myself and sometimes I've ended up in the stands as a result of that cordial discussion.

"I think there were a lot of things that the FA could look at. But it seems that they are looking at none."

Manchester United won the game 4-3, thanks to a last-minute goal from Javier Hernandez.