Cheyrou pledges to toughen up

The French midfielder is struggling to cope with the demands of the Premiership since his arrival from Lille in the summer, and has vowed to become more aggressive.

"I left to improve my ability to be involved and aggressive in the good sense of the word," he said. "To achieve this, the premier league is ideal - totally different from the French first division.

"Referees let the game develop more. In France, we have a tendency to fall easily and the referees whistle more quickly. The lack of commitment is something Gerard Houllier criticised me for, but I got the message."