I'm no diver

The Chelsea midfielder insists he is no cheat and that there was contact from Zat Knight when he won a penalty in yesterday's fiery 4-4 draw.

The former Fulham defender was sent off by referee Phil Dowd for the foul - a decision which infuriated Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill, who claimed it was a pivotal moment.

Ballack became the second Chelsea player in a week to be accused of conning an official after Peter Crouch suggested John Obi Mikel exaggerated his injury from the Liverpool striker's horrendous red-card tackle in the Carling Cup.

But the German said: "For me there is no discussion about this. I had the ball and two guys, not just one, came and one pushed me. It was a clear penalty."

O'Neill was upset by a number of Dowd's decisions and was today considering an appeal against Knight's 45th-minute dismissal.

Of the Ballack penalty, he said: "I think it was very dubious. I think the player dived. I didn't even see any contact and I have seen it a couple of times. It was a big moment in the match. The big decisions went against us and I am disappointed."

The penalty came when Chelsea were losing to two Shaun Maloney goals and was converted by Andriy Shevchenko.

The Ukrainian doubled his tally in the second half before Alex and then Villa's Martin Laursen scored to make it 3-3.

Ballack put Chelsea ahead late on but Gareth Barry converted from a last-gasp penalty for handball which saw Ashley Cole sent off after the intervention of a linesman.

Chelsea will appeal against the dismissal and Grant said: "I am sure the referee was wrong. I have seen it on television and it was not a penalty or a red card."

Cole was the second Chelsea player to be sent off yesterday following Ricardo Carvalho's 80th-minute dismissal for a two-footed lunge on Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Both players face bans which will leave Chelsea desperately short of defenders over the New Year period.

Carvalho will miss Premier League matches against Newcastle and Fulham and an FA Cup third-round tie against Queens Park Rangers, while Cole will sit out the clash with Sam Allardyce's side unless his appeal is successful.

Grant is already without skipper John Terry for at least a month with a foot injury and there is also concern over midfielder Frank Lampard, who came off yesterday with a thigh problem.

The three dismissals at Stamford Bridge came on a day of shame for English football when a record 19 red cards were shown to players across the four professional divisions.

Joining Cole and Carvalho on the bad-boy list were four other London-based players - Fulham's Moritz Volz, Charlton's Sam Sodje, Barnet's Ismail Yakubu and Brentford's Ben Starosta.

Luton Town ended their 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers with eight men after three of their side - Chris Coyne, Steve Robinson and Anthony Grant - saw red in the League One clash.