Aston Villa being denied a penalty leaves Dean Smith furious

Smith admits that

could have been better. However, it seemed that

were made to wait nervously in stoppage when

was sent off for a second bookable offence. Just when Lamptey was taking his seat on the bench, Oliver blew for a penalty. His decision, however, overturned after looking at the monitor making Smith annoyed.

“I’m at a loss to explain it. I don’t know what a penalty is now. We could all hear the contact inside the ground,” said Smith.

He continued: “If VAR thinks it’s not a penalty then just tell the referee it’s not a penalty. It wasn’t given so we have to take it on the chin. I thought VAR is there for clear and obvious. That was not clear and obvious to me. Everyone heard the follow-through in the stadium. My players said it was a penalty.”

’s first net for Brighton sent Albion off to their first win in seven

competitions. The 29-year-old helped them lead the half-time, which was then turned into a draw at the beginning of the second half.

Smith said: “I don’t think we were bad. We missed chances and we’ve made big mistakes for their goals. We have to defend much better. I didn’t think we deserved to be beaten. I didn’t think we were at our best but I thought we were good enough to get at least a point.”

Aston Villa attacking midfielder,

, may be injured in the hamstring area, leaving Villa concerned.

“He felt his hamstring and we’ll get it scanned. He seems fairly hopeful it won’t be too long,” said Smith.

The video assist referee’s decision was in favour of Graham Potter who claimed the foul was blown out of proportion.

“In the last minute, or whatever it was in the game, your heart’s in your mouth and it would have been harsh on the players given the effort they put into it,” said Potter. It’s a good three points especially coming to a place like Aston Villa where we wasn’t expected to have a lot of the ball.”