Exclusive – Paul Lambert proud of spirited Aston Villa

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert is full of pride for his team following a run of form that has lifted the club out of the relegation zone.
The Villans netted two late goals and fought hard to record a 3-1 win over Stoke, who are now fully immersed in the battle to avoid the drop, and have risen out of the bottom-three as a result after registering nine points from their last four games.
And Lambert believes the mass of teams that are now fighting to avoid relegation is testament to the spirit of his burgeoning youthful side.
“I’m very proud of the team,” Lambert told Stan on Call Collymore.
“We’ve changed the philosophy of the club and have brought in a lot of young players.
“And they’ve had a lot of belief, they’ve kept on going and they’ve put themselves in a good position and dragged a lot of other teams into the relegation battle.
It’s paying dividends because of the way we’ve played recently and the energy of the players, which has been excellent.
“We’ve still given away games that I thought we should have won, but I think we’ve been excellent since the turn of the year.”
After a turbulent season, the Claret and Blue side have clawed their way back into top-flight survival contention, and while Lambert and his players have come against a great deal of adversity throughout the term, the Villa Park faithful have never turned on their beloved team.

“The crowd have been brilliant as well,” added the Villans boss.
“They’ve really bought into our policy, and even though we’ve had sticky spells they’ve been right behind us.”