Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert says Kieran Richardson deserved his dismissal in defeat at West Bromwich Albion.

Richardson's dismissal was key and Lambert did not argue about the decision.

"I can see why the referee sent Kieran off, but he's not a malicious footballer," he said.

"His second touch overhit the ball, but in the modern game if you raise your studs the referee will give a red card. His enthusiasm probably got him sent off.

"I thought we were the better team at that stage and it's a big compliment to the team because for 70 minutes you wouldn't have known we were down to 10 men.

"In the last 15 minutes Christian had two good chances. There's a way to lose in football and we did that today."