Paul Lambert proud of Aston Villa at Chelsea
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert had no complaints with his players despite their comprehensive defeat at Chelsea in the Premier League.
The claret and blues were picked off at various times by goals from Oscar, Diego Costa and Willian at Stamford Bridge, but Lambert insisted Villa were always competitive.
He said: "When you come to places like this you've got to score, because in my own opinion they'll be close to winning the title, and I think they'll be close to winning the Champions League.
"It's hard to come here at the best of times, but I couldn't fault my own team. We gave it a right good go. We're playing without a recognised striker at the moment.
"I thought Gabby Agbonlahor did excellent the whole afternoon and I thought the three lads in the middle of the pitch - Fabian Delph, Tom Cleverly and Ashley Westwood - were excellent.
"When you come to places like this, if you get beat you've got to leave with your confidence intact, which we certainly are."
Lambert has now overseen a tough trio of fixtures that originally saw them win at Liverpool, before defeat at home to Arsenal and today's loss away to Chelsea.
He said: "We are in a run of games which is really tough but performance wise - other than trying to get a goal - I couldn't ask for any more from today.
"We're playing against top-class sides in Arsenal and Chelsea. If somebody said to me 'you'll take three points from Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea,' I would certainly have taken it. We've taken three from Liverpool.
"So we're into a run of games where we know it's really tough. We're up against Manchester City next week, which will be really tough, and those four teams I've just mentioned will be there or thereabouts when the title gets handed out."
