Paul Lambert has praised Aston Villa's "brilliant" fans after they watched their side fire another blank in a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday.

Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert scored in each half for the Reds at Villa Park as the hosts were condemned to a fifth winless Premier League match without scoring.

Protests apparently planned by Villa fans regarding the running of the club went unnoticed and, although there were jeers come the final whistle, Lambert has claimed that nobody could fail to give his side credit for their performance.

"The second half I thought we were excellent. I didn't think there was too much in it in the first half," he told reporters.

"We lost a poor goal but the second half was relentless pressure from us and their goalkeeper has probably kept them in it with the save from Christian Benteke.

"I don't think anyone could fault us for the way we played in the second half. We just have to keep doing what we did today and keep getting the chances and they will go in. The fans were brilliant right from the off. At the end that is just disappointment."

Villa are 14th in the table, having scored just 11 goals in 22 league games this season.