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Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert will contact referees’ chief Mike Riley over Gabby Agbonlahor’s controversial sending-off against Manchester United.

The Villa boss will register his concerns after Lee Mason harshly red-carded the forward for a collision with Ashley Young at Villa Park on Saturday.

Villa will appeal Agbonlahor’s dismissal in a bid to get his automatic three-game suspension overturned.

Lambert hopes the fact that former Villa winger Young told goalkeeper Brad Guzan he was to blame and not his old team-mate will help his case.

“I probably will make a call,” said Lambert. “Kieran Richardson’s sending-off against West Bromwich Albion I don’t have a problem with, but this one I certainly do have a problem with.

“There was nothing in it. You might as well pack up the game if you are going to take those (type of challenges) from it.”

Look! Photos from Villa's draw against Manchester United

Lambert admitted Agbonlahor was bitterly frustrated after his 63rd-minute sending-off.

The one-man disadvantage hindered Villa’s chances of recording a famous win over United and, in turn, ruined the contest.

“From where I was standing it’s not a red card,” added Lambert.

“The two of them have gone in fairly and have not raised their studs.

“I’ll hear the argument of excessive force, but their lad said he fouls Gabby so that’s where it falls down.

“You’ve got a linesman and a fourth official there.

“On one hand everybody says that maybe the fourth official can intervene on big moments.

“That was meant to be the rule. If you’re giving somebody that legislation that they can make a comment on it, where I sit, it wasn’t even a yellow card.

“In that moment, in a game of that magnitude, you have got to be 100 per cent right on it.

“I can understand Richardson last week because he’s raised his studs.

“But this one, no, it’s not a red card.”

Although clearly frustrated, Lambert wasn’t too downbeat with the outcome.

A 1-1 draw took Villa to 20 points at Christmas and there’s plenty of hope going forward.

“We still looked threatening,” he said.

“If Leo’s (Leandro Bacuna) shot was a couple of inches lower and then the one Charlie (N’Zogbia) nearly got on the end of at the end, we might have won the game.

“They coped with the system that was thrown on them because of the lack of personnel. The way we are playing is the most pleasing thing.”

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