Former Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has revealed that he was "happy" to be sacked by the club last season, claiming that there is "something wrong" with the Midlands side.

The Villans require a miracle run of good form to stave off relegation from the top flight this term after their return of 13 points from 23 games leaves them 10 points adrift at the bottom of the table.

Lambert was shown the door in February 2015 with the club 18th in the league and is now at the helm of Championship side Blackburn Rovers following a seven-month sabbatical.

"I loved my time off," Lambert told The Express. "For the first time, it was stress-free. I went over to Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Dortmund, enjoying my life and watching these great teams train.

"But I knew the job I'd done at Aston Villa – I knew the money I was working with, which was nowhere near what it is now, and the lads did great to keep us up. Was I happy [to leave]? Aye, because I knew it was coming and I was happy that it did happen, as you can see now. It was just a little bit harder than a lot of people think.

"I've been on the bike, cycling 70 miles every week, and I don't have the stresses I did at Aston Villa. Villa have a great fan base and brilliant facilities – but there's definitely something wrong with them, that's for sure."

Lambert's Rovers side are currently 18th in the second tier, five points clear of the drop zone.