Lambert demands Aston Villa reaction against Spurs after humiliating Chelsea defeat

23 Dec 2012 22:30:00

The 43-year-old's side were completely destroyed in the 8-0 win for a rampant Blues side, and the Scot insists he knows how to lift his players after getting "absolutely tonked"

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert insists he knows how to lift his players after they slumped to a humiliating 8-0 defeat at Chelsea on Sunday.

The result was Villa's worst in the top flight and ended a six-game unbeaten run, but Lambert believes his side will bounce back when they host Tottenham on Boxing Day.

"Sometimes in football a lot of things don't surprise you, I've been in it long enough," Lambert told reporters. "I've experienced beatings like that before, it's not the first time I've been absolutely tonked as a player or a manager.

"I know how to handle it. It's up to me to get the players up for Wednesday. The players and supporters won't be feeling great at all.

"There's no magic formula to get over it, the mark of good players and team is how you react. There's no point in feeling sorry for ourselves.

"We weren't at the races and it's a heavy beating but I can't allow one defeat to mask what's happening of late.

"Whoever is playing against Spurs, we have to atone for today. I'm not going to make excuses. We were well beaten and Chelsea were exceptional.

"We were well beaten, second best all over the pitch. We have to pick ourselves up and go again on Wednesday. We've been on a good run of form and it hurts, but we've got to pick ourselves up.

"We were well below our standard of late. You have to be bang at it every game.

"The players know my feelings on the game. I don't think you need to be Einstein to tell them what's gone wrong, they know exactly what’s happened. We've only got a few days to get over this."

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