Referee Chris Kavanagh will return to Premier League action after his FA Cup howler recently - but his assistant at Villa Park, Nick Greenhalgh, has been dropped down to Championship duty.

Kavanagh took charge of Newcastle's 3-1 win over Aston Villa, but the game included a number of high-profile errors. Tammy Abraham scored a goal which was clearly offside, but Greenhalgh failed to raise his flag and Lucas Digne dodged a red card for a shocking challenge on Jacob Murphy.

The worst blunder came when Digne handled the ball inside the box, right in front of the assistant referee, but no penalty was given despite mass appeals. Kavanagh eventually awarded a free-kick, proving he knew an offence had been made, but the Villa defender never exited the penalty area, leaving the visiting players stunned.

Both managers, Eddie Howe and Unai Emery, were critical of the performance which came as the referees had to do without VAR, which is standard for that stage of the FA Cup.

Kavanagh was stood down by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) for last week’s round of fixtures, along with Greenhalgh, after their below-par showing.

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Kavanagh has found his way back and will take charge of Manchester United ’s match against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Greenhalgh has not though and his demotion means he will be running the line in the Championship match between Bristol City and Watford at Ashton Gate on Friday night.

Greenhalgh will return to Premier League action next Tuesday, when he will be an assistant for Everton ’s home game against Burnley at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Criticism came flooding their way after the Villa Park disaster with Alan Shearer directing his frustration at the assistant.

He said on BBC: "I mean there is perhaps a small excuse for the ref not to see this, but there is no excuse for the assistant, who is ten or 15 yards away. He had an absolute nightmare today, he cost them for the offside from the free-kick."

Wayne Rooney went even further, claiming the Digne penalty call among the worst he'd seen. "That decision is one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in football because at no stage was Digne out of the penalty box," he said. "He is three or four yards inside. The linesman is just in front of it and you can clearly see how much he is in the penalty box. The referee looked like he blew and looked like he was listening to someone in his ear, so I'm assuming the linesman gave the decision, and it's an absolute shocker."

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