Howard Webb, Chief Refereeing Officer for PGMOL, has admitted that Michael Oliver's decision to send Myles Lewis-Skelly off against Wolves was wrong - but backed the referee.

Lewis-Skelly was controversially sent off by Oliver in Arsenal's 1-0 win over Wolves for fouling Matt Doherty, a decision which was later overturned after an appeal.

Arsenal were, however, handed a £65,000 fine for their furious on-field reaction to the red card.

In the latest episode of Match Official's Mic'd Up, where the referee's and VAR's audio is released on Sky Sports, it was revealed VAR Darren England determined that there was no need to send Oliver to the monitor to review the incident.

But Webb felt that England should have intervened because of Lewis-Skelly's "glanced studs" which should have prevented the red card.

"From the outset, we would prefer a yellow card in this situation," said Webb. "Clearly the referee on the day felt the actions of Myles Lewis-Skelly, he saw the player moving in towards an opponent without any ability or intention of playing the ball - with the intention of stopping the opponent. And the referee sees a raised foot make high contact and the opponent went down.

"The referee felt it was serious foul play, the VAR checked the footage to see if the call was clearly and obviously wrong and he felt it wasn't - seeing that the contact was quite high up on the leg.

"But we know that for serious foul play, we need excessive force or brutality and what we see here is that high contact [just] glancing and coming off the leg quite quickly.

"So for that reason, everybody pretty much in the game has formed the same conclusion that this is falling short of serious foul play - because of that glancing contact. Because the studs don't really go right into the leg, they glance in before coming down onto the foot."

He also defended Oliver, insisting that the decision was not "horrendous" and described the abuse that the referee received as "wholly unacceptable".

Audio that has now been released confirmed that England did not consider sending Oliver to the monitor despite his AVAR bringing up the studs action that Webb also spotted.

VAR audio in full

Referee: "I’m going to go red card, mate. Red card on the ankle. Red card, serious foul play."

VAR: "Just checking the red card for serious foul play. OK, it’s for serious foul play, not DOGSO (Denying an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity).

“OK, for me the contact's on the top of the foot."

Assistant VAR: "I think he catches him on the side of the ankle first. It glances off the side of the ankle down onto the foot. So the first impact is more that Achilles area."

VAR: "So first impact is on the Achilles, on the shin."

Assistant VAR: "With no chance of playing the ball."

VAR: "So, it’s high up above the ankle then it comes back down. OK, just get me the number please."

Assistant VAR: "It’s number 49, Lewis-Skelly."

VAR: "Michael, confirming the on-field decision of red card for serious foul play for Myles Lewis-Skelly. Away, 49. Check complete."