Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has said that his side 'took heart' from their second-half performance against Newcastle United in midweek.

The Villans slumped to their 12th defeat of the season at home to their fellow Premier League strugglers, meaning that they are now four points from safety.

Lambert's men travel to Goodison Park this afternoon - a place where they have not lost since 2006.

The Scot said that he does not care how his team perform, as long as they get precious points on the board.

"All that matters is winning," Lambert told reporters. "Winning covers a multitude of sins, it always does, and if you play poorly and win, you'd take it.

"The way we played against Newcastle in the second half - that's the way to play football. They have to do it for 90 minutes now. The lads took a lot of heart from that and we go again now."

Villa have taken two points from their last six games.