REFEREE Michael Oliver is to take charge of Southampton's Premier League match at Ipswich Town on Saturday despite death threats made this week.

Mikel Arteta said football must “kick out” the abuse suffered by referees after Oliver was targeted in the aftermath of Arsenal’s win against Wolves.

Oliver was the subject of attacks made online, including death threats against his family, after he showed a red card to Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly at Molineux.

Lewis-Skelly was shown a straight red card by Oliver for a trip on Wolves’ Matt Doherty, with the offence deemed at the time to have constituted serious foul play.

The decision, which was not overturned by VAR nor was the referee directed to review the incident pitchside, has since been repealed by an independent commission.

It led to what the referees’ body, Professional Games Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), described as “abhorrent abuse” directed against Oliver.

A statement from PGMOL on Sunday said: “We are appalled by the threats and abuse directed at Michael Oliver following the Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal fixture.

“No official should be subject to any form of abuse, let alone the abhorrent attacks aimed at Michael and his family over the past 24 hours.”

Despite the abuse, Oliver will take charge of Saturday's Premier League relegation six-pointer between Ipswich and Saints at Portman Road.

Saints have themselves been subjected to several controversial VAR decisions and feel they were hard done by again against Newcastle United last time out.

Jarred Gillett has been named as VAR for the Ipswich match, with Adam Nunn as his assistant and James Linington and fourth official in Suffolk.