Paul Lambert maintains positivity after Wolves loss: "I trust my players"
Paul Lambert says he won't let the Burton defeat change his opinion of Wolves' players – as he reiterated his 'trust' in the team.
Wolves slipped to a heartbreaking last-gasp defeat at the Pirelli Stadium with Burton striker Cauley Woodrow netting a 93rd minute winner.
Lambert was critical of Wolves' performance, particularly in the second half.
But he is choosing to look at the bigger picture in terms of Wolves' improved run of form and results.
"I'm not going to let one defeat change the way I think of the lads or anything," he told the Express & Star.
"I've got a group that I know I can trust, which is important. And the effort is always there.
"The work ethic for the game is great.
"The bigger picture is that we've made inroads on and off the pitch and we've had an incredible time in the cup.
"I've had great advice from really top managers on how to handle different things. I won't let one defeat hurt what's happened in the past few months."
Lambert selected the same outfield team that had beaten Liverpool in the FA Cup a week earlier, with the only change being Carl Ikeme's return in goal.
He said the two games were almost incomparable in terms of the occasions, hence why the marked difference in performance.
"It's two totally different games – 50,000 at Anfield to 5,000 at Burton," he added.
"The pitch at Anfield was like a bowling green, the surroundings are incredible and that's no disrespect to Burton at all, Nigel has done a great job and they've come a long way in a short space of time.
"But the whole thing is different. It happens. If you look all over the world in any league you'll see results and ask how that's happened. It's over the course of the season and the consistency where you end up at the top or bottom.
"We've been on the other side of it, beating Liverpool and Stoke and Aston Villa, where people expect the role reversal."
Lambert, who now turns his attention to Saturday's visit of Newcastle, reiterated that his team should have defended better for both of Burton's goals.
"It's an accumulation (of reasons as to why Wolves lost)," he added. "We've played a lot of high level games and come up with answers to win.
"This one, we lost but we should have defended the cross better. It wasn't good play on our part that we lost the second goal.
"I thought in the first half we were comfortable without being great, we got the gone, it wasn't a pitch where you could get the ball down and play.
"The second half I thought we were too deep, missed out on second balls and were half a yard too short all over the pitch.
"We were nearly getting to the ball, but that's not going to get you anywhere.
"I always think if you can't win it make sure you don't lose it, you take the point and you don't get beat.
"But we didn't defend the corner strong enough."