Westwood: Villa players enjoying new approach
Aston Villa midfielder Ashley Westwood says the club's players are enjoying their football following a change of approach from Paul Lambert.
The Villa boss has adopted a more patient, passing style of play in recent weeks, although he has also drawn criticism for a lack of goals.
One goal in five Premier League matches justifies some of those concerns from fans, but Westwood insists the change of tactics will bear fruit in the near future.
"The way we’ve been playing is really enjoyable," he told the Birmingham Mail. "We're keeping the ball and moving teams around the way that they used to do to us.
"We feel like we are progressing.
"It’s just about being patient now."
Westwood blames Villa's goal-shy ways in recent matches on the defensive approach of opposition sides.
"What we've found in the last few weeks is that teams have come and sat off us," he added. "It's tough to break teams down when they play like that.
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"Even the likes of Chelsea and Man City struggle at times and when the top teams go abroad they have the same problems, too.
"We've got to be patient, keep moving the ball around and keep wearing teams out. That’s what teams did to us last year.
"We managed to do it against Blackpool [in Sunday's 1-0 FA Cup win] in the end but that was only after we started moving the ball quicker in the second half.
"The last ten minutes we felt it was coming and in the end it did."