Wolves v Aston Villa: Paul Lambert only has eyes for Molineux men

Lambert left Villa Park under a cloud and has needed little excuse to stick the boot into his former club since.

A year later he declared he was happy to have been sacked. And on the day he was unveiled as Wolves boss two months ago Lambert declared he would 'never protect anybody like that again', referring to ex-Villa owner Randy Lerner.

For the Scot, though, the time for talking about Villa is over.

On the eve of Saturday's crunch West Midlands derby between his old team and his new one, Lambert only wants to speak about Wolves.

And he's got plenty to eulogise about at the moment, on the back of Saturday's stunning 2-0 FA Cup victory against Premier League opposition in Stoke City.

There have been a number of positive signs for Wolves in recent weeks.

And Lambert, who has a big selection headache at centre-half for tomorrow's game, was handed another boost last weekend when Mike Williamson came through 90 minutes at the bet365 Stadium.

It was his first competitive appearance for more than a year – and Lambert said it was a 'great bonus' to have Williamson back.

"Mike's bearing up all right," he said of the 33-year-old's fitness.

"He's trained from Tuesday onwards so we'll watch him, see how he does and how he feels.

"I thought as the game at Stoke went on he did better and better. His adrenalin will have got him through because it was his game back, he was thrown in and won't have had too much time to think about it.

"It's the second, third, fourth and fifth game, where it's constant, where we'll have to watch him.

"But touch wood he feels really good at the minute.

"It's a great bonus to have him back. He's a big player and a big character who does a lot of talking."

Whoever plays at centre-half – with captain Danny Batth, Richard Stearman and Kortney Hause also vying for a place – Lambert is keen to address Wolves' recent defensive woes at Molineux.

At least two goals have been conceded by Wolves in their past five Molineux matches. Yet Wolves have kept three successive clean sheets on the road.

Why the discrepancy? "I don't know why that's happened," Lambert said.

"Sometimes that happens, you get the breaks or you don't.

"If you can win games then great. It does matter to keep clean sheets but at least we're exciting to watch, we look great going forward.

"As a team we're getting better. It's a trait we want to address.

"You're built on a strong base defensively and Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke were really strong."

Talking of centre-halves, Wolves tied Ethan Ebanks-Landell down to a new three-and-a-half-year contract this week.

The 24-year-old will stay at Sheffield United on loan for the rest of the season.

Lambert said: "He's done well at Sheffield United and he did well when he came here to train.

"The more experience he gets playing every week, the better it'll be for him.

"When he comes back next year he'll be pushing.

"I expect him to push, that's what I'm hoping for."