Blackburn Rovers boss Paul Lambert has taken a jibe at his former club Aston Villa by claiming that he was happy to be relinquished of his duties at the Premier League club last season.

The 46-year-old took charge of Blackburn in November, and he has led them to the fifth round of the FA Cup despite their underwhelming performances in the Championship.

Meanwhile, Villa are currently on the bottom of the Premier League table and are favourites to experience relegation, and Lambert is feeling free of stress in his role at Ewood Park which he has held since November.

"I loved my time off, really loved it," he said. "I was doing things I wanted to do and, for the first time, it was stress-free.

"I went over to Bayer Leverkusen, I was at Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Dortmund. I was everywhere, enjoying my life and watching these great teams train.

"But I knew the job I'd done at Aston Villa – I knew the money I was working with, which was nowhere near what it is now, and the lads did great to keep us up.

"Was I happy to leave? Aye, I was happy because I knew it was coming and I was happy that it did happen, as you can see now. It was just a little bit harder than a lot of people think.

"I've been on the bike, cycling 70 miles every week, and I don't have the stresses I did at Aston Villa.

"The only thing I had a problem with was the way they did it, that was the only disappointing thing.

"Villa have a great fan base and brilliant facilities, as everyone knows – but there's definitely something wrong with them, that's for sure."