Gary Neville believes Arsenal and Mikel Arteta are inflaming fans’ claims on social media that referees are "corrupt" against the club.

The latest controversy suffered by the Gunners saw Myles Lewis-Skelly sent off for a foul on Wolves' Matt Doherty, a decision which left Arteta "absolutely fuming " after the game, which Arsenal won.

The decision to send off Lewis-Skelly was met with almost universal criticism from pundits and commentators, while the teenager’s ban was overturned by an independent regulatory commission on Tuesday after Arsenal appealed the decision.

The referee, Michael Oliver, received death threats and abuse in the fallout from the decision.

And Neville believes rhetoric — from the club, Arteta and prominent fans — inflames accusations of corruption against referees on social media.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville said: "[Arsenal fans] use language like corruption, which means they think he’s getting paid and bought off – which is obviously not the case.

“We [at Manchester United] lived in a club which created a siege mentality about the referees. Arsenal are doing a bit of that as well – there’s no doubt that what Arsenal do is inflame the situation after the game rather than calm it down, they’ve done that for 12 months – but we can’t say that’s wrong having played in the dressing room that we did.

"The difference is now with social media, when we were playing back in the day and doing similar things with referees, we weren’t inflaming what would be a cause of corruption on social media. Now you have a sway of Arsenal’s anger, which comes from the players and from Mikel Arteta, and prominent fans.

"You now have a social media wave now which goes towards [allegations of] corruption and cheating. In our day, we couldn’t have that much influence – everyone was at home without a phone, and didn’t have Twitter."

He added: "I hate the idea of a referee being taken off a game. [Michael Oliver] is the best referee in the country, and the idea that he would go into that game on Sunday and be swayed towards Manchester City – he’s not going to do that, he’s a professional."

Arteta this week called for those within football to work harder to rid “hatred” from the sport in the wake of the abuse Oliver received.

“For everyone in football, you should not be permitted [to do that],” he said. “We don’t want it, we don’t need it and it certainly damages our sport. Let’s get it out.

“Regardless of whether it is a player or a coach, a referee - it does not matter. We have to really work harder to try to eradicate that part of the game that brings nothing but bad stuff, bad taste and it makes people’s lives more difficult. Let’s get it out, let’s kick it out.”

Standard Sport approached Arsenal for comment.