HENRIK Pedersen had mixed feelings about referee Steve Dunn after helping Wanderers claim their first points of the season.
The Dane gave the Bristol official 10 out of 10 for disallowing the 'goal' he claimed in the first minute of the second half and for awarding the decisive penalty nine minutes later that ultimately sent Villa home empty handed.
But he was bitterly disappointed to receive a yellow card for "diving" when he was tripped by Villa defender J Lloyd Samuel.
"I couldn't believe he thought I was diving," Pedersen said. "There was no doubt about the penalty and I have no argument at all with the disallowed goal because I did touch the ball with my hand. But I did not dive. The referee was wrong on that one."
Mr Dunn might easily have been confused when Pedersen appeared to exaggerate his fall when he went down under Peter Enckelman's challenge as he raced onto Youri Djorkaeff's pass but video replays of the 55th minute incident that led to Michael Ricketts netting the goal that lifted Wanderers off the foot of the table clearly show the Villa keeper making contact.
Enckelman was shown the yellow card.
Pedersen said Wanderers were good value for the win - a reward for the hard work they put in - and claimed they deserved the break they got at the end when Jussi Jaaskelainen pulled off a sensational reflex save to keep out Samuel's shot after it ricocheted off Gudni Bergsson. "That was perhaps the little bit of luck we didn't have against Charlton last week," he added.
The Dane, who spent the back end of last season loaned back to his former club Silkeborg, admits he has never played alongside a better player than Djorkaeff, and believes the experience will help him improve his own game.
"Youri is a world class player," he said of the French ace. "And the better players you are playing with, the better you get yourself. We've only played together two and a half games but the combination is getting better and better.
"We play three up front - Michael in the middle and Youri and I will change positions a lot during the game. I think it's working pretty well.'
Jaaskelainen, winner of last season's Premiership Golden Glove award, responded with characteristic modesty to the praise for his save.
"I had a clear view of it," he explained. "I was going left and just managed to switch right and knock it away. It was very important to keep a clean sheet and it gives us a lot of confidence going into the next three games."
Sam Allardyce did not hold back in his praise of the keeper, though.
"The big man was outstanding with his commanding performance," the manager said. "He is responsible most for giving the back four confidence.
"That save of his won us a very valuable three points."
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