Referee Mike Dean to officiate Manchester derby

Mike Dean has been given Monday night’s explosive Manchester derby in what will be his first run-in with Sir Alex Ferguson since the United boss spectacularly lost his cool on Boxing Day.

Ferguson defended his decision to give referee Dean a half-time blast of his hairdryer before Manchester United sealed another famous comeback win against Newcastle.

Dean also controversially sent off City captain Vincent Kompany in the defending Premier League champion’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal on January 13 — a red card which left Roberto Mancini fuming and which was later rescinded by the FA.

Javier Hernandez’s last-minute winner for United in that game at Old Trafford gave them a 4-3 triumph when they had been behind three times and took them seven points clear of rivals City at the time.

But Ferguson first rounded on Dean, then fourth official Neil Swarbrick before finally launching into assistant referee Jake Collin over Newcastle’s second, an own-goal from Jonny Evans, which he was convinced should not have been allowed to stand.