Former Aston Villa defender Ugo Ehiogu is confident that Paul Lambert is the right man to take the club forward.

Villa's poor form in the Premier League has led to suggestions that Lambert would be the next manager to leave his post.

However, Ehiogu, whose former side were also beaten 3-1 in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final against Bradford City on Tuesday, has backed the former Norwich City boss.

"It's worrying times for Aston Villa. It's quite valiant when you're putting lots of young kids in the team but they need some quality experienced players around them," he told talkSPORT.

"Certainly in the heart of defence, at centre-half, that's a key area where they are struggling. Sacking Paul Lambert is not the right thing to do," he added. "I'd like to see him get some money in and start to bring some experienced players in, otherwise the kids are going to get swallowed up.

"You can't expect a team that's lost a lot of quality over the last few seasons to be able to compete in every game. There's no rest bite for them, they're doing it without any experienced players."

Villa are expected to make a host of signings in the January window.