Aston Villa news: Mills claims controversial ref decision is 'huge shame'

Villa keeper Orjan Nyland clearly carried the ball back into his own side-netting following a free-kick from Blades midfielder Oliver Norwood, but on-field referee Michael Oliver did not give the goal after the GDS failed to alert him.

The match finished 0-0 and Hawk-Eye – who operate the technology – have since apologised “unreservedly” for the controversial incident.

But Mills also believes that some of the blame must be apportioned to the VAR official for not intervening.

Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “It is poor. They’ve just purely relied on technology and assumed it’s going to be perfect. That’s where the mistake lies in all of this.

“The ball was behind the post. The linesman could have seen that, the VAR official should have certainly seen that. Surely you would look back at it. VAR was brought in to eradicate massive errors.

“It’s a huge shame because it could have massive implications come the end of the season. Maybe Aston Villa stay up by a point or on goal difference.

“It’s a black and white decision. They will learn from this, but it’s a massive shame.”

Wednesday’s result allowed Villa to move within one point of safety with nine games left to play.

At the other end of the table, a win for Sheffield United would have seen them leapfrog Manchester United into fifth, and put them within two points of a Champions League spot.