O'Neill determined to keep building Villa

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LONDON, March 1, 2010 (AFP) - Martin O'Neill has insisted that a blunder by referee Phil Dowd cost Aston Villa the chance of a Wembley win over Manchester United and the club's first trophy in 14 years.

But the Villa boss is determined that bitterness over Dowd's failure to send off Nemanja Vidic will not tarnish his side's achievement in getting to the League Cup final, or dilute their drive to repeat the experience.

Wayne Rooney's late winner earned United a 2-1 win on Sunday afternoon but the game would have had a very different complexion if Dowd had dismissed Vidic - as most pundits felt he should have - for pulling down Gabriel Agbonlahor when the Villa forward was clean through on goal.

The foul resulted in a penalty from which James Milner gave Villa a fifth-minute lead but O'Neill's men were not able to defend their advantage and, after Michael Owen had equalised, Rooney capped a vibrant comeback by United with his 28th goal of the season.

O'Neill described Dowd's failure to brandish so much as a yellow card at Vidic after the Serbian defender had tugged Agbonlahor's shirt and then swept his legs from under him as "inexplicable."

"I really don't understand it atall. It was a clear goal-scoring opportunity and a player has been felled in the penalty area. Anyone who has seen it will be wondering how he could have come to such a decision.

"It does not matter if it is in the first second or the 89th minute of the game, decision is straightforward. It is so straightforward it is incredible.

"But the reality is that, in a couple of days time, it is forgotten about. We are the losing finalists in a really fine game of football and that's it. It's over. It's gone."

Villa have the opportunity of returning to Wembley in the FA Cup, in which they face Championship side Reading in the quarter-finals on Sunday, and are still in the hunt for a top four finish in the Premier League, which would carry O'Neill's squad into the Champions League.

The Northern Irishman believes the way his side took the game to the Premier League champions augurs well for their prospects on both fronts.

"I thought we were brilliant, particularly in the first half," he said. "You can't keep a team like Manchester United at bay all the time and they came roaring back in the second half and showed all their experience.

"But I never thought we were out of the game, even at 2-1 when they hit the post.

"The players are very despondent but we are going to to get back here. These are great occasions. Wembley maybe does not have the twin towers any more but it is still a good old venue."