By Paul Brown

Paul Lambert hailed the "unbelievable spirit" of his team as they battled to a 1-1 draw with Norwich.

Villa were reduced to ten-men early in the second half when Joe Bennett was given his marching orders by referee Phil Dowd.

But Lambert's Lions, while not posing much in the opposition half after the dismissal, fought and scrapped in defence for long periods.

Brad Guzan summed up the desire after the break, with a man-of-the-match performance.

Lambert had mixed emotions with the result but pride in his players.

He said: "I have mixed emotions. I thought it was a brilliant finish from Christian to put us one-up. And then there was the sending off. But the lads showed unbelievable spirit to not get beat.

"I just think going down to ten men - especially at this level - you know you're going to be on the back foot. The spirit was excellent, the way they kept going.

"It's tough at times. And we didn't have a recognised centre-half alongside Ron. But Chrissy Herd came in and he was excellent. He did great. There were a lot of positives.

"The goal was disappointing to lose. But there was good spirit to try and see it through.

"The defending was excellent and it had to be. They put their bodies on the line.

"Overall I thought the effort and commitment was excellent. If they keep that, it will go the right way."

On the dismissal, he added: "I initially thought that Joe Bennett has grabbed Elliott Bennett but when you look at it again they're both at it and Elliott has Joe by the neck initially.

"But the referee calls it. It was disappointing."

Make sure you check out our fantastic half season ticket offer.