Dean Smith has labelled the refereeing in Aston Villa’s 1-0 loss to Brentford as “pathetic”.
Villa lost further ground in the playoff race on Wednesday night, as Neal Maupay’s last-gasp winner consigned Smith’s side to defeat.
The loss leaves them 10th in the Championship and seven points adrift of sixth-place Middlesbrough, who have also played one game fewer.
Villa were never at the races at Griffin Park, but there were still questionable decisions that went against them.
Speaking after the match, Smith fumed at some of the officiating on show, as well as his side’s lack of ruthlessness in front of goal:
The big chances fell to us tonight and we’ve missed them. We should have had a penalty as well.
We’ve had a few of them as well. This season the refereeing has been pathetic at times.
We’ve seen it ourselves. We should have had a penalty against Sheffield United, should have had the second goal (disallowed against Sheffield United) and again tonight.
It was a damaging night for Smith and his players, who have to pick themselves up and focus on Saturday’s clash with local rivals West Brom at Villa Park.
Both teams are desperate for points – the Baggies sit fourth in the table – so it promises to be an intriguing contest.
