It was the second time Martin O'Neill's side felt they had been on the receiving end of wrong refereeing decisions on showpiece occasions at Wembley this season.

O'Neill was incensed when referee Phil Dowd failed to send off Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic in the Carling Cup final after he had hauled back Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor inside the penalty area.

Then on Saturday O'Neill was again fuming after Agbonlahor was brought down by Chelsea defender John Obi Mikel in the FA Cup semi-final and denied a penalty by referee Howard Webb.

Even Chelsea skipper John Terry conceded that Villa should have been awarded a spot-kick before the Blues went onto win via second-half goals from Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard.

Villa keeper Friedel said: "Once again we were hard done by with a refereeing decision.

"This also occurred in the Carling Cup final against Manchester United. It makes you wonder if referees have a hard time making the big decision against big teams on the big stage."

But Friedel insisted that Villa will take heart from their performance - particularly after losing 7-1 to Chelsea a fortnight ago - as they look to claim a European spot.

The former Blackburn player said: "I thought we played really well against Chelsea and showed a lot of character - especially after the lack of character we showed the last time out against Chelsea.

"We matched them in every department. We were really unlucky with the first goal and we can walk away with our heads held high but being bitterly disappointed with the result.

"John Terry mis-hit his shot which led to their opening goal and their two late goals came about as we were pushing forward to get an equaliser.

"But now we have to move on from this match. We now have an important game on Wednesday night against Everton.

"We don't have time to really to think about it because we have to get three points on Wednesday."