Premier League: Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert understands fans' frustration after Crystal Palace draw
Thursday 1 January 2015 20:06, UK
Paul Lambert was left frustrated as his Aston Villa side failed to break down relegation rivals Crystal Palace in a drab goalless draw at Villa Park.
The Midlanders have now failed to score in 11 of their 20 Premier League games but are 12th in the table after gaining the point.
They were jeered off by the home fans, after a second stalemate in a row following Sunday's 0-0 draw with Sunderland.
"We had a lot of possession and dominated the game from start to finish," Lambert told Sky Sports. "We failed to unlock their defence because they packed everybody behind the ball. It's tough to break them down.
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Chances
"We tried and had chances to do it, but sometimes it's frustrating when you don't unlock the door, but as I say, if you can't win a game, make sure you don't lose it.
We tried and had chances to do it, but sometimes it's frustrating when you don't unlock the door, but as I say 'if you can't win a game, make sure you don't lose it'
"Sometimes they had a back six and it's not easy to break down, but the way we are controlling games is very pleasing."
Villa have drawn blanks in their last three games and have failed to score in 39 out of 96 league games under Lambert, and the manager insisted he understood the fans' frustration.
He said: "The fans have been great but I understand their frustration. I'm sure if we had scored nobody would have batted an eyelid.
Fans' frustration
"They want to see their team win. I can't fault the lads for dominating the ball and trying to score. We have started a new way of playing and the lads are really comfortable with it. We just need the finishing touch and it will come."
Ron Vlaar limped out of the game early in the first half and will go for a scan on Friday, with Lambert hoping his knee injury is not serious.
He added: "I'm not 100 per cent sure about Ron, but we think it's his knee, the same as what he did at the World Cup. He thinks it may be that. To be fair, I didn't want to bring on Ciaran [Clark], I wanted to give him a break."
