Paul Lambert: Momentum is with Aston Villa

The claret and blues climbed out of the drop zone with a 2-1 win over struggling Reading, which ultimately cost manager Brian McDermott his job after he was sacked on Monday.

And Lambert claimed his squad have been buoyed by the victory as they look to put more distance between themselves and the bottom three on Saturday.

He said: "We will go again now but we have gained a lot of momentum and against QPR, we will have a massive crowd behind us.

"The confidence in the team is extremely high. If the crowd, players, staff and everyone stick together we'll keep going.

"It will help our mental strength being out of the relegation zone. But I don't think we have looked like a team down there.

"If you look at the table there's not a lot of daylight with the teams down there. It's very close."

Lambert also praised the manner in which his youthful group of players have handled a difficult period during this campaign.

He said: "That's the thing about them being young; there is an enthusiasm about their game. You get that with young players - they will run, run and run for you. Even the older lads have been excellent for us.

"I can't ask any more. They have taken a few knocks but have responded. Since the turn of the year we have always been in games. We have to keep those fighting qualities.

"You don't win football matches without it. They are getting better."

Christian Benteke bagged his 16th goal of the season against Reading and Lambert admitted the Belgium striker was more like his true self.

Benteke had endured indifferent performances against Arsenal and Manchester City in Villa's previous two games.

Lambert added: "I thought Christian was back to his best after a couple of games which, maybe by his high standards, he went down."