Ten-man Magpies foil Villa
The centre-back was dismissed just nine minutes into this battle for the fourth Champions League place after clashing with Darius Vassell.
Thomas Hitzlsperger's long ball set the pair off on a chase towards Newcastle penalty area and the England striker was felled by a clumsy challenge by his opponent.
Knight had no hesitation in brandishing the red card but Robson felt the incident was not as clearcut as that and believed his player should have been given the benefit of the doubt.
"I'm not here to criticise the referee. This match boiled over in a couple of incidents and I thought the referee did quite well because he never let it get out of control," said Robson.
"I will not be giving him bad marks, he will be getting a good response from me. It was not an easy decision for him to make for the sending-off because he was 35 yards behind play.
"But never at any time did Vassell get in front of Andy, so there was never any question of a tackle from behind, never at any time did Vassell have the ball, never at any time did Vassell even touch the ball.
However, Newcastle benefited from a stroke of luck in first-half injury- time when Vassell slid the ball home from the edge of the penalty area only for the effort to be disallowed for a foul on Aaron Hughes.
Television replays suggested the Newcastle defender had stumbled of his own accord. Robson conceded: "I'm told television evidence said that did not take place. There seemed to be a trip and so, in that sense, Aston Villa have been hard done to."
In the second half Magpies' midfielder Gary Speed escaped with a yellow card despite appearing to catch Lee Hendrie in the face with a flailing forearm just moments after the pair had had a set-to in the centre circle.
The former England manager added: "I thought Gary Speed was unlucky to get his name taken because he jumped high, Hendrie got knocked over and made a meal of it."
Aston Villa boss David O'Leary was left bemoaning a lack of guile as his side spent 81 minutes trying to break down a stubborn Newcastle rearguard and failing.
"It is a frustrating game. I thought we were at our best when they had 11 men on the pitch," said O'Leary.
"Their agenda changed when they had a man sent off and they ran the clock down. The onus was on us to break them down and we didn't do that. Bobby was shouting and begging the ref to blow up so they were delighted with a point.
"You have to have a special guile and quality if you are really going to break somebody down enough the way Newcastle sat in there and we didn't have that today."
Nevertheless, O'Leary was pleased with the way his threadbare squad performed generally. "The bottom line is the players here have done fantastically well for me," he added.
"If someone said to me, with the squad I've got, that I had a chance with a few games to go to beat Newcastle and go into fourth I think I would have taken it without a doubt."
O'Leary felt aggrieved Vassell's goal was chalked off on the stroke of half-time but accepted his side may have had some fortune with the sending-off.
"I did ask Vassell at half-time and he said 'I never touched him', but I don't think the referee gave it, I think the linesman gave it. Those decisions can go either way for you."
Robson was also impressed with the resolve his players showed after battling to repel what little Villa could throw at them during the 81 minutes they were at a numerical disadvantage. "I think in the scheme of things getting a point is a valuable point," said Robson.
"I'm proud of my players. It was a measure of our team morale, our guts, our enthusiasm, commitment and work ethic and discipline that we were not going to concede all afternoon unless there was something magical.
"Considering we played with 10 men Shay Given has not made a save. Our defensive work was extraordinarily good today," said Robson.
: Sorensen, Samuel, Johnsen (Ridgewell 88), Mellberg, De la Cruz, Barry, Hitzlsperger, Hendrie, Solano (Whittingham 69), Crouch (Allback 62), Vassell.
: Given, Bernard, Woodgate, O'Brien, Hughes, Robert (Bowyer 35), Jenas (Viana 35), Speed, Dyer, Shearer, Bellamy (Bridges 52).
: B Knight (Kent).
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