The animation state right could not be played because it couldn't be found!

I have created animations with Unitys built in animation tools and assigned them into the instructor panel as animation element 0 and 1. The animations play and behave properly, so when object hits a wall its animation changes. But I get a console error that the animation state could not be found. Its not crashing the game but it is annoying me.

     if(Physics.Raycast(transform.position, Vector3.right, hit, 5)){
         if (hit.collider.gameObject.tag == "Wall"){
             if (direction == 0){
                 animation.Play("left");
                 direction = 1;
             }
         }
     }
     if(Physics.Raycast(transform.position, -Vector3.right, hit, 5)){
         if (hit.collider.gameObject.tag == "Wall"){
             if (direction == 1){
                 animation.Play("right");
                 direction = 0;
             }
         }
     }