Lambert urges players to forget Chelsea thrashing

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom (AFP) –

Aston Villa‘s manager Paul Lambert (R) reacts during their English Premier League football match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in London, on December 23, 2012. Lambert on Tuesday told his players to put behind them the humiliating 8-0 defeat by Chelsea last Sunday and focus on getting a good result against Spurs on Wednesday.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert on Tuesday told his players to put behind them the humiliating 8-0 defeat by Chelsea last Sunday and focus on getting a good result against Spurs on Wednesday.

The former Scotland international midfielder – who moved from Norwich to take over at Villa last summer – said he had experienced such moments in his playing career and the important thing was to move on quickly from them.

“It can happen. I’ve been on the end of it before and I’m pretty sure some of their lads would have been on the end of heavy defeats,” said the 43-year-old, who as a player won the 1997 Champions League with German side Borussia Dortmund.

“But you have to bounce back and it’s about how we react. You can’t dwell on it and start feeling sorry sorry for yourselves.

“As a footballer, if you start feeling sorry for yourselves, there is only one place you are going to go.

“It is important that we try and bounce back very quickly. We just never turned up on Sunday and that is the harsh reality of football.”

Lambert, capped 40 times by Scotland, said people should look at the overall picture which had seen Villa enter the Chelsea clash unbeaten in six games after making a poor start to the campaign.

Despite that run they are fifth from bottom, just three points off the relegation places.

“You can’t let one game blight what has happened of late,” said Lambert, who won a lot of praise for his spell at Norwich as he took them back to the Premier League in 2011 and then to a respectable campaign last season which saw them retain their elite status.

“I’ve said all along that I never get too high when I win and I never get too low when we lose.

“We’d been in really fine form since the game at Sunderland a while back now and our only defeats in 11-12 games before Chelsea had been against the two Manchester clubs.

“Fixtures come thick and fast this time of the year and we only have two days to mull over it and have to go again against Tottenham on Wednesday.

“I am sure whoever plays on Wednesday will atone for that.”