Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has publicly thanked club owner Randy Lerner for his continued support. Villa face Chelsea on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge were they suffered an embarrassing 8-0 defeat last season.

The Scotsman has thanked American Lerner for sticking by him through such performances, believing that such support has helped the club and manager.

"I speak to Randy every week anyway and he's always really supportive," Lambert said.

"I spoke to him the other night after the Arsenal win. He probably says one thing to me and then goes and vomits somewhere else.

"He's been great to me, he really has and that's what you need, that support."