Villa will end goal drought, says manager Lambert

LONDON (Reuters) - Aston Villa will soon end an embarrassing goal drought that has now lasted for five games, all defeats, their manager Paul Lambert said on Friday.

When Gabriel Agbonlahor scored what turned out to be the winning goal after nine minutes at Liverpool on Sept. 13, Villa could not have imagined they would reach November without another goal.

That run has now lasted almost nine hours and with a total of four from nine games, Lambert's team are the lowest scorers in the Premier League, slipping from second place to the bottom six.

"Not scoring goals has hurt us, but it will come," he told a news conference ahead of Sunday's visit from Tottenham Hotspur.

"You have to pull together and you'll definitely come through it. There's a huge expectancy level here.

"We played the top five (teams) from last season in succession and mentally playing against them is really hard."

If goals do not come, Lambert admits his position could be called into question, despite having signed a new four-year contract only last month.

"I never think anybody's bomb-proof," he said. "I know football is about trying to get results."

(Reporting by Steve Tongue; editing by Toby Davis)