John Obi Mikel said the Chelsea team felt Wayne Rooney should have been sent off for his challenge on Oscar in Monday’s 0-0 draw with Manchester United.
Referee Martin Atkinson showed the United and England captain a yellow card for his injury-time tackle and Rooney, who insisted it was accidental, apologised to the Brazilian.
While midfielder Mikel did not witness the incident, his teammates were convinced the punishment was insufficient.
“I didn’t see the tackle, but from what I’ve heard it was a bit high,” Mikel said. “The other players were talking about it at the end and they said he should have been sent off. Oscar is fine though.”
Mikel believes United, who have been criticised for only scoring 10 goals in their last 14 games, may have been fearful when they had the opportunity to trouble Chelsea.
“I think sometimes you could see in the game that they had chances to attack, but were a little bit sceptical, or hesitant,” he added.
“Maybe they were a little bit scared. They were playing not to lose as well. Because of the fast players we have up front who can break they were cautious, and approached the game not to lose.
“Both teams are not in the right place right now to attack, attack, attack, attack. Sometimes you have to be smart and settle for a point.”
The midfielder also revealed that the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge has improved since Mourinho’s departure.
Hiddink is taking charge of Chelsea on an interim basis for the second time following a successful three-month spell in 2009.
Mikel said: “He hasn’t changed much yet, but he was here before and he knows the place and all the staff. The players are different — only me and JT (Terry) — were here before, but he knows what to do.
“We’re down there in the table for a reason so he can’t come in and perform miracles, but we want to get out of there. We’ve had three games now without losing so are making the right steps.
Mikel said he was as perplexed as anyone as to why Chelsea have struggled so far this season, but added that it was hard to tell as he’d spent much of the season on Jose Mourinho’s bench.
“We’ve moved on from that and the atmosphere has improved since the change of manager. It’s fine now, we’ve just not been getting results.
“Jose is a fantastic manager and will always be a fantastic guy. But sometimes football is a cruel game and you have to move on. Is it the right decision? Who knows? We’ll only see in the future.”
Mikel, meanwhile, thinks a top-four finish is still within Chelsea’s grasp despite the huge points differential.
“I don’t think it’s gone yet,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of games left to play and points to catch up. If we keep going in this direction and keep keeping clean sheets then we’ll definitely score goals.”
“He came back to the club a second time and won two trophies, but now he’s gone and we have to move on. Is it the right decision? Who knows? We’ll only see in the future.”
Chelsea lost nine of their first 16 league games, leaving Mikel struggling to explain why they had floundered this season.
“I’ve been as confused as everyone else,” he said. “It’s difficult when you’re not playing, as you don’t really know what the problems are.
“I wasn’t playing that much under Mourinho so couldn’t put my finger on what was going wrong. It was a collective thing — the players and the manager were not performing.”
