Sunday 11 January 2015 08:33, UK
Paul Lambert refused to react to chants directed towards him from sections of the Aston Villa support during their 1-0 defeat at Leicester City.
Villa were second best to Nigel Pearson’s side for large parts of the game at the King Power Stadium, as Paul Konchesky’s strike in first half stoppage-time condemned the Villains to a sixth league game without a win.
The result also meant Villa have only managed to scored one goal in their last six games, and have only found the back of the net on 11 occasions in the league this season, prompting sections of the travelling support to question his integrity as manager.
And, while choosing to brush aside talk of the chants directed towards him, Lambert admitted his side needs to improve in attacking areas if they are to appease the unhappy travelling support.
“The fans are entitled to voice their opinion, they pay a lot of money,” he told Sky Sports.
“This is a massive football club and the expectancy level is really high and I have to live with that. It’s not nice to hear (chanting) but you have to get through it.
“The final third let us down, we never had enough in the final third. We had a lot the ball but we never produced it where it matters.
“We’ve got to keep working hard, keep working hard on the training ground, get everybody upbeat and keep the lads believing goals will come.
“The effort and commitment was there, we just need to be better in the final third. We need to find a way to turn our good play into goals.”
Despite the defeat to a fellow team jostling for Premier League survival, Lambert remained confident his side could recover to finish clear of the relegation places.
“You don’t want to be at the bottom of the table, this is a massive football club,” Lambert added.
“As I said to the boys in the changing room, there’s so many games to go and there’ll be so many twists and turns through the second half of the season. You’ve just got to make sure you’re away from that.”