Steve Bruce: Banned Aston Villa winger Leandro Bacuna is being treated harshly

The 25-year-old was yesterday handed the extended suspension after being sent-off for barging into assistant referee Mark Russell during the closing stages of Villa's 1-0 win over Derby County last weekend.

Bacuna, who was already serving an automatic three-game ban, admitted a charge of violent conduct and was fined the maximum two week's wages by Villa, with Bruce branding his actions "stupid" and admitting the player had "overstepped the mark".

The manager's frustration instead lies in a perceived inconsistency with the FA's punishment, after Blackburn's Hope Akpan was handed only a one-match additional ban for a similar offence last month, having pushed the referee in a game against Sheffield Wednesday last month.

Bruce said: "When I see the boy at Blackburn get one game, it's why I thought it was harsh on Leo.

"I came out and fined him the maximum and said he'd overstepped the mark.

"But he hasn't done any damage to anybody. It's been rather stupid of him, yes.

"In the context of it though, we hadn't won for nine games, it was in the last 30 seconds, it was our throw-in, it was five yards away from the linesman - people might understand.

"What he did is not right, we're not disputing that. But when you compare it with the one at Blackburn, that does puzzle me."

Bacuna will not be available again until Villa host QPR on April 4, with the club having no recourse to appeal the decision.

In a statement, the FA claimed the player's behaviour had "constituted violent conduct in circumstances where the standard punishment of three matches would be clearly insufficient".

It continued: "Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing, a three-match suspension was added to the sanction the player is already serving following his dismissal."