Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill confessed to being "petrified" to face a furious Roy Keane after Sunderland were denied a last-gasp winner in the Premier League encounter at the Stadium of Light by referee Steve Bennett.

Bennett ruled out Danny Collins' header, four minutes into stoppage time at the end of the game, for a push on Scott Carson to the astonishment of the bulk of a crowd of 43,248 and no-one more so than the home side's manager.

"What's there to see? It was a header, we scored, three yards out and the referee disallows it for...I don't know," complained the Irishman.

"My gut feeling was it was a straightforward goal but my concern is the referee was already blowing before we headed it in. You will have to ask him when you see him what it was for. I am sure he will come up with something but we will end up talking about the referee over the next few days when we should be talking about two good teams who had a good go at each other in a good Premier League game. But I think this referee will enjoy that he is the centre of attention over the next few days."

Nonetheless, the Villa boss insisted his side had deserved a draw after Danny Higginbotham put Sunderland ahead after ten minutes, only for Shaun Maloney to equalise from a magnificent free-kick. He said his staff, at least, felt the referee had got the decision right when Carson was apparently impeded by Kenwyne Jones as he went to stop Danny Collins' effort.

O'Neill said: "I am pleased with a draw. I thought we totally dominated the game. I have seen their disallowed goal back a couple of times and I think the player has come across Scott Carson.

"I think he has put his arm right across him and that had an impact on the goal. I have only seen it very briefly but it wasn't given and anyway we deserved at least a point. I haven't spoken to Scott yet but I will watch it again on the bus on the way home. I am going to see Roy first, though and I am petrified! "

O'Neill continued: "We gave away a bad goal that put us on the back foot but from then on in, we were terrific. "We have given sides a head start too many times this season. The Premiership is a difficult place to play and if someone gets a goal against you, it really does knock you back.

"Sunderland's goal was what I considered a poor goal to concede from our view point. However, our resilence showed and we never gave up. I thought we had the ball away from home far more than we would be entitled to. "

"We have had lots of possession. We were the ones that were doing all the attacking but it did look as if the goal would never come."

The Villa boss was full of praise for substitute Maloney, who came on in the 67th minute and put Villa level just six minutes later. The little Scot was fouled by Paul McShane on the edge of the area and fired home a 25-yard free-kick for Villa's equaliser.

O'Neill said: "It was a fantastic goal by Shaun and if their goal had been allowed at the end, then I would have been bitterly upset."

The Northern Irishman said it was vital Villa kept up their momentum on the road and an impressive run of form which sees them having lost only one game on their travels in the last ten months - a defeat to Manchester City, whom they face at Villa Park on Saturday.

He said: "We are now only once beaten away since February, which is fantastic. We take that now and our next away game is against Chelsea. But first, we have a big match next week against Manchester City. Today, it would have been more than disappointing to lose that game.

"In many ways, to our detriment in the last three or four minutes of the game when the referee has disallowed the goal, we are still trying to win the ball.

"We went gung-ho to try to get the equaliser and once we got it, we needed a steady head again but the players are learning - they are trying to learn.

"I know resilience is an over-used word but that's what we are showing. This wasn't the game against Middlesbrough where we were second-best for about half-an-hour of the game [yet won 3-0]. This wasn't the game against Blackburn where we were second-best for 20 minutes until we got the goals [and won 4-0].

"This was a game where they have scored and then we have taken the game to them."

O'Neill said he had warned his players that Sunderland's never-say-die attitude would mean they would need to be on their guard. The Black Cats have scored in the last minute or in additional time in eight matches this season.

He said: "That is a credit to them and credit to their manager. They play right to the death."