• ‘The players grew up tonight’ says Aston Villa manager
• Allardyce says referee ‘major part of us not going through’

Martin O’Neill hailed Aston Villa’s first appearance in a major final for a decade by claiming that their 6-4 second-leg victory over Blackburn Rovers was the evening his young team “grew up”, after they had allowed two early goals.

But the Blackburn Rovers manager, Sam Allardyce, was furious, claiming that Stephen Warnock’s opener for Villa should not have been allowed. Allardyce strongly criticised the referee, Martin Atkinson, for failing to award a foul on Ryan Nelsen by Gabriel ­Agbonlahor. According to Allardyce, Atkinson was a “major part of us not getting through to the final”.

O’Neill preferred to focus on his team’s