Referee Mike Dean back in spotlight as Tottenham and Aston Villa clash in FA Cup

04 January 2017 11:39

Referee Mike Dean will be back in the spotlight in a televised FA Cup clash on Sunday despite criticism of his handling of West Ham's match against Manchester United.

The 48-year-old has been handed the third-round tie between Tottenham and Aston Villa which will be shown at 4pm on BBC One.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic criticised Dean's decision to send off Sofiane Feghouli in his side's 2-0 loss to Jose Mourinho's team on Monday.

Dean showed his fifth red card in 15 matches this season after just a quarter of an hour following Feghouli's challenge with Phil Jones.

Although Jones came off worse, Bilic felt the United defender had committed the more dangerous tackle and West Ham swiftly launched an appeal against Feghouli's red card.

The dismissal was Dean's 25th since the start of the 2013-14 season, with that total and his season's current tally the highest by any current Premier League referee.

During Monday's match, Sky Sports pundit Niall Quinn labelled Dean "arrogant" and the decision "rank bad refereeing", while ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher said the decision had drawn such attention because " Mike Dean doesn't make errors".

Former referees' chief Keith Hackett told the You Are The Ref website: "Mike Dean's presence as a big personality referee who is prepared to make big calls in big games is a strength in his case and not a weakness."

Source: PA