Villa boss Martin O'Neill was incensed when Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic was not red-carded by Phil Dowd for hauling back Gabriel Agbonlahor in the penalty area inside the first five minutes of the Carling Cup final.

And there was a similar scenario against Carlo Ancelotti's side with John Obi Mikel appearing to bring down Agbonlahor in the box, only for referee Howard Webb to wave aside Villa's penalty claims.

Chelsea, who defeated Villa 7-1 a fortnight ago at Stamford Bridge, went on to win with second-half goals from Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard.

But Petrov said: "I thought we did really well today. We did much better than in the previous game against Chelsea and we had our chances.

"We had a few decisions which didn't go our way but apparently that is the way it is. We need to accept it.

"It was a penalty but we didn't get it. That's the way it goes and it is really frustrating.

"It is frustrating. It is big decisions. You never know if we go 1-0 up today, what is going to happen. It is hard to take but we didn't win today and we will keep going."

Petrov felt Villa's performance deserved a more positive outcome.

"We gave away two late goals when we were trying to push for an equaliser but today we did really well and probably deserved more from the game," he said.

"It was never a 3-0 game but at the end of the day all the best to them.

"At the end of the day, that's football and we need to score goals to win games. We didn't manage to score, they scored three and won the game.

"It was hard to see a goal like their first one when we have been defending well from the set-pieces and it was a very soft goal but we will blame ourselves."

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Chelsea goal hero Drogba was full of pride after smashing his fifth goal in five visits to Wembley.

"Knowing we will be coming back here is fantastic," said Drogba. "I am really proud of that scoring record.

"The most important thing is that we are here for another final and it won't be easy.

"As a kid you always dream about big stadiums and games. Here in England the double is something special.

"To win the FA Cup is something unbelievable in England, so I want to win the double to see if there is a difference in the feeling."

Chelsea laboured in a torrid first half which saw Villa have a credible penalty appeal turned down by referee Howard Webb.

He rejected Villa appeals that Gabriel Agbonlahor was wrestled to the ground by John Obi Mikel.

But Chelsea midfielder Lampard believed Villa should have been awarded the spot-kick.

"We beat Villa 7-1 two weeks ago but fair play to them, they had a very positive reaction," he said.

"We got away with the first half because I thought it was a penalty. They will probably be upset about that but I thought it was a penalty.

"We have had some important decisions in the Champions League that we didn't get, so I have some sympathy.

"It was nice for me to score but Malouda killed the game really. Villa gave us a really tough game and it is just nice to come back here for the final."