A satisfied Villa boss shares his post-match thoughts with the media. Here's how Paul Lambert saw this afternoon's goalless draw at the Boleyn...
Paul: That must feel like a win after the run you've been on recently?It's a great point. A really great point. We've come to a ground where they've been playing really well; they've beaten City and Liverpool not that long ago and to come here and play as we did and be resolute was first class.
A word on your 'keeper? Especially at the end there? Phenomenal?
That's what he's paid for...
What do you pay him then? [laughs]
He's overpaid! No, to be fair his save at the end was world class. Top guy, top pro and I'm delighted for him. Really pleased for him.
Your centre backs had to be strong as the West Ham strikers have been terrific. Vlaar and...
Nathan [Baker], yeah - excellent. We knew before the game, we've spoken about it all week - balls are going to rain down on you so be ready to deal with it - and I thought they coped fantastically well.
In the second half I thought we were comfortable up until the last five minutes or so when Andy Carroll came on with Sakho up there and the other lad, Carlton Cole. We're not the biggest of teams but defensively we put our bodies on the line and it was a massive point for us.
Do you think that with a bit more confidence you could have made more of the breakaways you had?
I thought we looked a threat, in the second half especially. Gabby had a great chance to put up one-up in the first half and then Andy [Weimann] had a chance as well. So we had chances. That's one thing about us - we can exploit spaces. Credit to the team, they've taken a lot of stick at times but well done today.
You didn't have Benteke; that might have made a big difference?
I thought that Christian was unplayable against Spurs and him being out was a blow, there's no two ways about it. He's back to his best. But Gabby, up top, ran his heart out for the team which was great. N'Zogbia's playing ever so well and is dangerous, but that's the way it is - the red card hurt us last week.
Is there any more news on Nathan's injury?
Not at the minute. I hope it's not as bad as first feared, but we'll see. He's got another 16 days or so to recover after the international break so we'll see how he is.
You've come to a difficult ground, against a team in form and got a very hard-earned point. What does that mean to the team's confidence?
Well I think the confidence was there at Spurs. The Benteke incident changed the course of that game; if Christian stays on the pitch that night we win that game. Or w certainly don't lose it, that's for sure. So I knew confidence was high from the way we played the other night.
I knew we were confident coming into this game and I knew we had to defend really strongly. I thought that was a point well-deserved.
And is it good now to have a break, take stock and get Nathan fixed up - or is it a bad thing that you've got this point but can't carry straight on with it?
Well with Nathan, we'll see how he is. I think Alan Hutton will be back after the national games. Christian has got another three weeks to go but we'll hopefully get one or two lads back fit.
Senderos will be with his national team and that'll give him game time, so it probably comes at the right time for us, regarding injuries.
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