Defiant Lambert plans to reinforce

Paul Lambert is confident he will be able to attract players to Aston Villa in January, despite the club’s struggles in the Premier League.

After losing their last three matches and conceding 15 times while failing to score, Villa are now embroiled in a battle against relegation from the top flight.

Nevertheless, Lambert hopes the club’s standing in the game will still allow him to bring in some experienced players over the next month.

When asked if he expected to struggle in attracting new recruits, Lambert said: “No, I don’t think that will the case. I don’t because I think it is not just Aston Villa that are in a fight.

“There are a right few others and in the second half of the season, as (Wigan manager) Roberto Martinez said, you have to have patience and don’t panic.

“That is important. It is not just Aston Villa in a fight. Can I sell the club and its young players to an experienced player? I don’t see that is a problem. The football club on its own will attract that as well.

“It is pretty easy to sell the club, the stature it has got. You don’t need to be Einstein to try to sell this club. It is a huge, huge club.”

Lambert said he still feels he has the backing of the club’s board, but admitted it was frustrating trying to do business in the January transfer window.

“Do I have the patience of the chairman? You would certainly like to think so. I can’t influence anything like that,” he said.

“I can only work with what I have, and that is the same for any manager. You try to do your job the best you can.

“But I sense that there is a togetherness when I speak to him. As I said before, I have a good relationship with the chairman but football is a results business.

“I think any football manager always has an idea of what they want and try to do in January, but I think everybody says it is an absolute nightmare of a month.

“People can panic, prices are inflated, people don’t want to sell, so it is a tough one.”