Former Premier League referee Graham Poll is amazed by the Football Association’s decision to overturn Villa keeper Brad Friedel’s red card against Liverpool.

Friedel was sent off for bringing down Fernando Torres inside the box, during Sunday’s 5-0 defeat at Anfield but won his appeal against the dismissal on Tuesday.

The verdict is believed to have infuriated leading referees, governed by the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd, who are writing to the FA to demand an explanation.

Poll, at Molineux as a guest speaker at a celebrity dinner held by Dudley Rotary Club, sympathises with his former colleagues’ frustrations and revealed he even thought Friedel’s suspension could have been extended.

The referee can speak from 14 years as a Premier League official, with a CV including two World Cups and a UEFA Cup final.

He said: “The only red cards they are supposed to overturn are ones that are clearly wrong. That’s their rules.

“The FA don’t explain why it is wrong. That is the issue I have. Then we can understand because the referees at the top level – I still speak to them – are mystified as to what goes on.

“I even had it down as a possibility they would add an extra match suspension for what they used to term a ‘frivolous appeal’, one with little chance of success.

“Does it undermine referees? Of course. A referee will send someone off on Saturday for the same offence.

“The player will complain bitterly pointing to the Friedel case, so the referee will be liable for more abuse this Saturday than he would have been had the FA stuck with their original decision.”