Wolves vs Aston Villa referee revealed as Kevin Friend learns fate after Leeds debacle

Kevin Friend has been sent to Stockley Park after he courted controversy in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ defeat to Leeds United before the international break.

Wolves were two-nil up and cruising before Friend sent off Raul Jimenez for a second bookable offence following a collision with Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier. Leeds mounted a comeback following Jimenez’s dismissal and secured a 3-2 win to dent Wolves’ European hopes.

Bruno Lage was furious with Friend post-match and insisted the referee’s decision cost his team three precious points. Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher sided with the Wolves boss, saying: “I think it’s very unlucky.

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“He’s desperately unlucky to be sent off, desperately unlucky to be serving a ban and even more that he can’t appeal a second yellow card. He didn’t have a particularly good night.”

Friend won’t be refereeing in the Premier League this week after the official appointments were confirmed on Thursday. The 50-year-old Bristolian will instead act as the VAR for Brighton vs Norwich City on Saturday.

Wolves’ game against Aston Villa at Molineux will be refereed by Darren England, with Adrian Holmes, Matthew Wilkes and Darren Bond acting as his assistants. Lee Mason is on VAR duty and he will be assisted by Stuart Burt.

England has taken charge of two Wolves matches this season – and they have been complete contrasts. He oversaw the 2-0 defeat to Brentford at Molineux in September, which was one of the worst performances under Lage, before taking charge of the 4-0 win against Watford recently. England will referee his first Villa game of the campaign on Saturday.

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