Aston Villa priced out of new signings admits boss

The Villa boss has been left frustrated in his bid to bolster his squad and stave off the threat of Premier League relegation.

With the window set to slam shut on January 31, the Scot warned that there were "no irons in the fire" and Villa are unlikely to sign reinforcements before the deadline.

Lambert said: "We have spoken to a few lads and a few teams, but the finances were way too high. Am I optimistic we could still make signings? No, not really.

"That could happen, but one thing I will never do is criticise the group, never. There's lads in there who have played a lot of games in the Premier League.

"Whatever happens next week will happen. If we can't get anybody in then there's no point me dwelling on it or worrying about it, you just go with the lads who are here.

"Can I be sure I will get people in? No. You can only play the hand you've got. And if that's the case I will go with it."

The Villa boss also admitted that he would not follow the approach of Queens Park Rangers and Newcastle.

They are willing to spend their way out of trouble but Lambert won't because it would set the club back further in the long run.

He said: "If you don't manage to stay in the league and you've spent loads of money then what does that do to your club if it goes down?

"Does that put the club's future at risk? I don't want to do that to this club."

Viilla will be without Nathan Baker, who has a hamstring problem, for tonight's FA?Cup fourth-round trip to Millwall.

But Ashley Westwood and Jordan Bowery are available after they missed the Capital One defeat to Bradford City because they were cup-tied.

And Lambert today confirmed he will not select a weakened team for tonight's game, out of respect to the travelling Villa fans.

Villa face a crunch match with fellow Premier League strugglers Newcastle United next Tuesday, at which point they will have played four games in 10 days.

But Lambert will not make wholesale changes at The Den. He said: "You have a duty because people come and watch it. I don't think you could take it lightly.

"You can't go into it thinking 'we'll just get knocked out of this and concentrate on the league'. It's not my way. You have to try to win."