Villa's Lambert slams 'nonsense' fixture list

Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet said a schedule of two games in the space of three days was "a disgrace" ahead of Sunday's clash at Villa Park.

And Villa boss Lambert echoed the Uruguayan's sentiments after his side secured a point, despite playing much of the second half with 10 men following Fabian Delph's dismissal for a challenge on Jordi Gomez. 

The Scot said: "I agree with Gus 100 per cent on what he said the other day.

"Two games in three days is nonsense. There's no quality with that. It's hard for players to do that.

"I understand playing on Boxing Day because that's tradition but you have to play two days later. That's not normal.

"They stop in Germany. They stop in Spain. I agree with Gus on that. If you ask most managers, I think they'd say the same."

Lambert revealed that defender Ciaran Clark was taken off in the second half due to a back problem.

Villa host managerless Crystal Palace on New Year's Day, when they will be aiming to end a run of four games without a win.