VIDEO: David Hirst slams Vincent Sasso's '˜terrible lunge' in Sheffield Wednesday's loss at Aston Villa

Centre-half Sasso was shown a straight red card by referee Lee Probert for a late challenge on midfielder Conor Hourihane in the second half of Saturday’s tussle at Villa Park.

For our Owls news and opinion on twitter follow here

Head coach Carlos Carvalhal was banished to the stands for leaving his technical area after vehemently complaining about Sasso’s dismissal.

But speaking on the You Are The Ref show, Hirst said: “The one fortunate thing about that is he didn’t actually catch the kid seriously.

“It was a terrible lunge. He [Sasso] miscontrolled the ball and lunged from a distance. It was a straight red without a doubt.”

For more news from Hillsborough click here

Former referees’ chief Keith Hackett agreed with Hirst’s assessment.

“He [Sasso] is out of control and the referees have got to outlaw that and have got take a firm line on that,” he said. “It is a red card every day.”

Carvalhal, who refused to be comment on the sending off post-match, has today been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association.

Hirst added: “How can a manager complain about it? I think when he sees it again, he will think he probably made a mistake.”

Follow Dom Howson on twitter