Ref Watch...Peter Walton

Last updated : 19 August 2006 By Les Roberts
Everton fans will remember him well as that one red card he issued was shown to Iain Turner during the home match with Blackburn.

Turner was sent off for rushing out of his area and handling a dreadful back header from Alan Stubbs.

It's unlikely that Tim Howard will suffer the same fate against Watford as he has seemed a little hesitant about leaving his line during pre-season.

Hopefully it's nothing serious but he does appear to have a touch of the ‘Richard Wright's' about him when it comes to closing down defenders.

Unusually for the Blues, that sending off seemed to galvanise the team and we put in one of the performances of the season to beat a horrible Blackburn team 1-0.

Mr Walton has refereed six Everton games over the last three seasons and issued a total of nine yellow cards and that infamous red card.

He has taken charge of just two Watford matches over the same period and shown them a total of three cautions.

The most recent of these matches was their 0-0 draw with Cardiff last season when Jackson and Mahon were cautioned.

Peter Walton finished the 2005/06 season with a ratio of 3.23 cards per game, which was about average for a Premiership referee.

There's likely to be cards for both teams today but don't expect any sendings off…unless Tim Howard has been keeping a close eye on Iain Turner in training!