Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish feels Chris Herd was hardly done by when he was sent off in the 35th minute of Saturday's 2-1 loss to West Bromwich Albion.
Villa were 1-0 ahead after Darren Bent's 23rd minute penalty when the Australian midfielder was given his marching orders for allegedly kicking out at Baggies defender Jonas Olsson.
Replays of the incident are inconclusive but McLeish feels that Herd did not act out at the Swede but rather was trying to remove his leg as the pair became tangled in the penalty area.
The sending-off was the turning point, no question. The replay I've seen indicated Chris was extricating his foot from Olsson's grasp. "We don't see a stamp. That's what it looks like. Until I see another picture that makes it look like he stamped on somebody, then it doesn't look like a sending-off," McLeish said after the match.
"Gordon Cowans (first-team coach) was high in the stand and he said he saw Olsson punch Chris on the shoulder just beforehand and the officials never saw it.
"The linesman said it looked like Chris stamped on him (Olsson), or he thought he stamped on him. He's got to be 100% right. Maybe's he's right but until I see a better picture..."
