Aston Villa are unhappy with claims Alan Hutton deliberately targeted West Bromwich Albion striker Shane Long.

Villa assistant manager Peter Grant insists Hutton's hatchet-man reputation this week is unwarranted and claims the former Spurs right-back is hard but fair.

"I know what he's been painted as but he's not that type of player," said Grant.

"That's been proven over the years.

"People haven't said in the past that Alan is aggressive, goes over the ball and is a dirty full-back. I don't think anybody's ever said that in his career.

"They've said that he's an attacking full-back who likes to get forward.

"I think sometimes his biggest problem is that he's desperate to hit the ground running. There's that impatience in his game.

"You can see him running along the line, he's trying to get up and down the pitch.

"We're telling him 'Alan, calm down - it will come'. He's trying to make everything perfect and in football everything's not perfect.

''You're going to make mistakes. It's how you respond, what's your reaction.

''You must try and make it better the next time and that's what Alan must do. Alan's disappointed with certain things he's done, but there's certain things he's done very well."