Referee 'a disgrace' fumes Johnson

Furious Birmingham defender Roger Johnson branded referee Martin Atkinson "a disgrace" after the referee awarded Villa their controversial late penalty winner.

Johnson was outraged after Atkinson deemed he had fouled Gabby Agbonlahor inside the box, despite replays indicating the Blues centre-back got the ball first.

James Milner stepped up to convert the 83rd-minute penalty leaving Blues, who enjoyed the better fo the chances, facing up to their sixth successive Second-City derby defeat.

Johnson said: "The decision regarding the penalty was a disgrace. I thought the referee was a disgrace the whole game through if I'm being honest.

"The rules are if you are not sure about a decision, you don't give a penalty and the referee was a million miles away from the incident.

"The linesman could see it better than the referee. But the crowd are getting the sound up and the referee bottled it for me. It is an outrageous decision.

"Did the referee explain the decision? Don't be silly. Referees don't talk to you. They just say 'go away.'

"You can't talk to them. They all ask for respect but you can't talk to them so it is a waste of time."