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Leicester City have received an explanation for the handball controversy in their Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Aston Villa – and it has failed to satisfy manager Brendan Rodgers.

City asked authorities for clarification after James Maddison’s shot, blocked inside the penalty area by the outstretched arm of Villa midfielder Marvelous Nakamba, failed to result in a spot-kick.

Neither on-field referee Mike Dean nor video official Lee Mason deemed Nakamba’s block to be an infringement, but there were concerns that VAR had checked the wrong incident, with replays suggesting Maddison's follow-up shot, which hit defender Ezri Konsa on the ribs, was the clip watched at Stockley Park.

City trailed 1-0 at the time and went on to lose the second leg 2-1, Villa booking their place in the final at Wembley with an injury-time goal from Mahmoud Trezeguet.

Baffled by the decision, City requested an explanation in the referee report they submitted after the match.

But the verdict has left Rodgers questioning what constitutes handball.

“We were told that [Nakamba’s arm] wasn’t in an unnatural position,” said Rodgers.

“We were getting clarity around both, because there were a couple of incidents. Had they seen the right incident?

“I don’t like to go on too much about it because it’s gone, you can’t do anything about it. But for me it was more about the game, because we had two of our most experienced referees in that game against Villa, one in the game and one outside in VAR.

“That was where we needed clarity because if they’re not seeing it... I can understand a little bit, Mike [not seeing it], in the game, where it happens so quickly and there’s a couple of quick incidents and then it’s a corner, but then for it to go to VAR, I wanted to ask the question: ‘What is actually handball?’

“It’s just the consistency, that’s what we’re all looking for. That decision away at Villa, if you don’t get that, it’s difficult to say what is a handball.

“I spoke to the Premier League representatives and that’s a Premier League handball but you’ve got one of your top referees from the Premier League refereeing. And it’s a big moment, because it’s early in the game and it can change it.”

Because of the subjective nature of the game, there have been calls for referees to use the pitchside monitors more often, in order to prevent those on VAR duty taking a different view of the same incident to the on-field officials.

“[Dean] could have done [checked the monitor], but he chose not to,” added Rodgers. “But it was still clear on the screen that it was a handball.

“Anyway, it’s gone, so we move on.”