Dean Smith was left frustrated after Aston Villa’s 3-1 loss to Manchester United at Villa Park on Sunday.
The head coach saw his team lead 1-0 at half-time before the visitors rattled in three unanswered goals, including Bruno Fernandes’ hotly disputed penalty, after the break.
At the final whistle, Villa’s mentality and decisions from the officials were on Smith’s mind as he gave his post-match interview.
He said: “I’m frustrated because I thought it was a really good first half performance after the initial three of four minutes.
“I’m disappointed with our mentality when the penalty was given. They scored and I felt it affected us too much.
“That’s what cost us the game at the end of the day. We can all argue until the cows come home about the penalty, but Douglas shouldn’t have been planting a foot. Is that enough for him to go down? No, we all know that.”
He added: “They’re a very good team with the players and squad that they’ve assembled. They’re one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“We asked them questions – not enough in the end. Our mentally has to be right, especially when a decision like that goes against us.”
Villa have a chance to get back to winning ways on home turf on Thursday night when Everton come to town.
Smith said: “We played really well against Everton last week and now we’ve got them at Villa Park.
“It’s about time we put some results together at Villa Park after a defeat here and just in time for when the fans are back against Chelsea.”
