The betting firm Coral have suspended betting on the PFA player of the year award after Ryan Giggs was heavily backed in the Manchester area.

The Manchester United winger was the third favourite with the bookmakers, behind Nemanja Vidic at 11-10 and Steven Gerrard at 11-8. He is the fifth United player on the six-man shortlist.

"We had Giggs in as the third favourite at 11-2 behind the big two fancies, Vidic and Gerrard, and had seen a number of small bets," said Coral. "But then today the market really livened up when we were asked for a couple of four-figure bets for the United star, both in the Manchester area.

"We cut the price to 9-2 and then, as the voting has already taken place, we thought it best to suspend," he added.