Norwich City boss Paul Lambert has defended his team selection following his team's FA Cup exit at the hands of Leicester City.

Lambert was criticised by fans for choosing to rest top scorer Grant Holt for the cup clash.

"In the three years I've been here, I have never had a single problem with the team I have picked," he said.

"We gave everything we had. It's just on this given day it wasn't there for us."

Lambert has intimated that Premier League survival is more important than the FA Cup and Norwich's coming clash with Manchester United this weekend played a part in his choices.

"The club has worked really hard to get into this position but we are still a country mile from being safe," Lambert added.

"Next week we're up against one of the best teams in Europe and people would snap your hand off to be in that position."

Norwich are currently eighth in the Premier League with 35 points from 25 games.