Soccer:Aston Villa have defended fullback Alan Hutton after the strong criticism of him by West Brom manager Roy Hodgson following a tackle on Republic of Ireland international Shane Long during the match between the side sat Villa Park last weekend.

The Irish striker will be sidelined for six weeks with the knee injury he suffered as a result of the tackle. Hodgson described it as “a wicked challenge,” adding that there was “no place in football” for such tackles and that Hutton should have been red carded.

But Villa assistant manager Peter Grant insists Hutton is not a dirty player. Grant said: “I know what Alan has been painted as but he’s not that type of player. That’s been proven over the years. People haven’t said in the past that Alan is aggressive, goes over the ball and is a dirty full-back.

“I don’t think anybody has ever said that in his career. They’ve said he is an attacking full-back who likes to get forward. I think his biggest problem sometimes is that he’s desperate to hit the ground running in games. There’s that impatience in his game.”

Grant believes the best is still to come from the Scotland international who moved to Villa from Tottenham in August. He said: “He’s not found his feet yet. There’s more to come from him and we know he can be a top player here.

“You don’t go to Tottenham for the price he did if you are not a top quality fullback.” It’s not exactly a vehement protestation of the player’s innocence with regard to the tackle in question; more a case of he’s not a dirty player without addressing the specifics of the incident that left Long injured.