WALES boss Mark Hughes wants the referee of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier in the Ukraine to clamp down on any play-acting by their rivals.

Hughes was furious with Poland after they had defeated his side 2-1 in Cardiff on Saturday to leave their qualifying hopes on a knife-edge.

Wales must now win all their remaining games and pray the Poles win theirs and that other results go their if they are to progress.

And though that's an unlikely scenario, skipper Gary Speed says "other international results on Saturday leave us a slight chance, but we have to beat the Ukraine." Hughes became embroiled in a war of words with Polish counterpart Jerzy Engel after Saturday's clash.

In a bad tempered game, several players were booked and Hughes launched a scathing attack on the Poles, accusing them of over-reacting to tackles and trying to get his players sent off.

"The game doesn't need things like that," stormed Hughes. "They (the Polish team) have good ability and good technique, so from my point of view I can't understand why they have to try and get my players booked or sent off." Engel told Hughes to keep his opinions to himself.

"It is better if we only talk about our own players," he said. "I can criticise my players, but Mark should not. I would not say anything about his." He added, "The Welsh goal came from a foul. My player was lying injured on the ground, the Wales team took the opportunity to score when they should have kicked the ball out. That upset my players."

The row is set to continue with Hughes suggesting FIFA might be interested in investigating the Polish players' actions.

In one of the more bizarre bookings, Ryan Giggs was yellow-carded for allegedly pushing Polish defender Tomasz Hajto to the ground.

Hajto is well over six foot, and while Giggs is not the biggest of players, Hajto went down like he'd been punched by a heavyweight.

Hughes remarked, "I never knew Ryan was so strong." Wales travel to the Ukraine today still searching for their first win in Group 5.They will be without Robbie Savage - his knee has flared up again - but both Darren Barnard and Mark Delaney should be fit.

Hughes, though, has his mind set on just one thing - picking his players up after the disappointment of Saturday.

"It's a big game for us and we are going to have to show a lot of character because we've gone into the game against Poland really focused on what we had to do and it hasn't come off for us," he said.