'You have to ride your luck deal with these things'

[Getty Images]

Former Aston Villa goalkeeper and European Cup winner Nigel Spink says Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson is a "lucky lad" that he was not sent off after a controversial tackle on Ollie Watkins during the first half of Thursday's 1-0 Europa League semi-final first leg defeat at the City Ground.

The midfielder's challenge on Watkins went unpunished but left his England team-mate in agony on the turf. Replays showed Anderson clattered into the Villa striker's ankle.

Unai Emery described the VAR as "so, so bad" for not getting involved.

"I'm not an advocate for the modern style of football and how it's refereed, but he was out of control, his foot was in the air and his studs were up," Spink told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.

"Technically, it at least should have been a yellow and then I thought he could have got another yellow for an incident not long after that as well. He's a lucky lad that he stayed on the pitch, but you have to ride your luck and deal with these things."

Despite the first-leg defeat, Spink is backing Emery's team to provide an improved performance next week at Villa Park.

"Villa's season has been amazing," he added.

"They have done fantastically to be in the Champions League spots and doing so well in the Europa League. They can take full confidence into next week.

"With these big ties, you look back at defining moments and I think Emi Martinez's save will go down as keeping Villa in the competition if they can perform a little bit better in attack next Thursday. It wasn't quite as sharp as they can be."