One of the few talking points to be glossed over from this week's remarkable clash between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa was a red card for Tobias Figueiredo.

The Portuguese player was dismissed late on for Forest at a time when they were perhaps finding the ascendency in the game. However, playing with ten men allowed Villa back in to secure a 5-5 draw that has had the football world chattering away ever since.

Much of the talk has been around the keeper's displays, neither impressing in a game that didn't have an unusually high amount of shots on goal, or of Joe Lolley and Tammy Abraham, both putting in superb displays.

However, pundit Dean Ashton wanted to focus on the red card which he felt was unjustified.

"I'll be the first to say if I feel that it should be a red card, and I just don't with this one," he said on the EFL Show, reported by Nottingham Live. "He is genuinely looking to get the ball."

"He is late, but he's not, for me, gone in high. And he's gone in one footed, with his foot sliding along the floor. I think he can feel a little bit hard done by. Of course, it's a late tackle, but I didn't feel it was a red card."

The player will now face a ban, missing this weekend's tie with Ipswich Town. A win in that game would strengthen Forest's place in the top six and spark further hope of a genuine promotion push after a solid but inconsistent start to the season.

The Verdict

It was a soft card, but it just added to the drama and narrative of a wonderful game of football for the neutral. It appealed to fans of both sides too, with few going home disappointed in a game the highlighted everything good about the Championship.

Also, given Stan Collymore's comments about a second-rate product, how fitting two of his old teams should serve up something as exciting as any game you'll get in the top flight this season.

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