Paul Lambert was delighted to praise Darren Bent after Aston Villa ended a four game slump by beating Ipswich 2-1 in the FA Cup.
Three back-to-back defeats while losing 15 goals turned the pressure on the Villa boss as they were dragged back into the relegation dogfight.
Lambert has been playing one of the youngest sides ever to play in the Premieship and couldn’t hide his joy at the return of Bent to fitness and the scoresheet.
The England striker teamed up with Charles N’Zogbia with the £30m plus partnership helping Villa recover from being a goal down to a place in the fourth round draw.
“It was the really pleasing thing, to have the players back from injury,” Lambert stated, with Gabriel Agbonlahor making a late appearance as a substitute.
“That finish is Darren Bent down to a tee. It was top class but I thought his overall game was very good, his whole work ethic and the way he played.
“I thought his whole general game was very good, considering he only really trained with us yesterday, so it was a big, big effort from him. Charles N’Zogbia is certainly a talent, there is no two ways about it.
“It was a big thing for him to play because he has been out for well over six weeks or so and he only trained yesterday along with Darren and Gabby.”
On Tuesday Villa switch competitions, travelling to face Bradford City in the first leg of their Capital Cup semi-final.
Elsewhere in the FA Cup Martin O’Neill was happy to accept a replay as Sunderland battled back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Bolton.
Middlesbrough had a comfortable 4-1 home win over non-league Hastings United but Championship leaders Cardiff City came a cropper losing 2-1 away to Conference side Macclesfield.
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