Southampton striker Rickie Lambert has claimed that Enda Stevens's challenge on Jay Rodriguez looked like a "stonewall" penalty.

The 30-year-old scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot as the Saints claimed a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa.

The game's big talking point came when Rodriguez went down under the challenge of Stevens in the 33rd minute.

However, replays appeared to show that the full-back defender no contact with the striker, leaving Villa manager Paul Lambert furious.

Lambert has jumped to the defence of his strike partner, insisting that it was a poor challenge.

"I thought it was a penalty right away," BBC Sport quotes Lambert as saying.

"You can clearly see the defender was not going to get there, that is all I can say.

"If I was on the pitch and it was the opposite way round I would have been having a go at my defender for making a poor challenge, it looked a stonewall penalty."

Saints manager Nigel Adkins has admitted that his team were lucky to win the penalty.