Villa gaffer plays down winger’s role ahead of weekend clash.
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Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has stated that he does not believe Tottenham Hotspur winger Andros Townsend is anywhere near being considered as the new Gareth Bale, Sky Sports reports.
Lambert and his troops face a Spurs side who will most likely have Townsend in their starting line up this weekend as he currently enjoys a strong start to the season for both club and country.
In the wake of his recent success Townsend has seen the inevitable comparisons between himself and former teammate Gareth Bale, but Lambert believes that it is too early to start putting the two in the same bracket.
Bale’s fine form last season single handedly guided Spurs to within a point of fourth place, and he was rewarded with both the PFA Player of the Year and Football Writers’ award as well before his record-breaking £85m move to Real Madrid.
Townsend, meanwhile, spent last season on loan at Queens Park Rangers, and his performances for Harry Redknapp’s side even in their relegation impressed Andre Villas-Boas enough to promote him to the Spurs first-team this year.
Lambert, however, went on to confirm that he would not be making any special plans to stop the 22-year-old and will deal with him in the same way as any other player.
“Will we be putting any special attention on him? No,” Lambert said.
“You can’t jump on the bandwagon. It’s only two games. Gareth Bale did it over a number of years – that’s too much pressure to put on players.
“If someone plays two good games they are a world beater but Tottenham have an array of players.
“I’ve not seen much of the lad but when I have he has played well.
“Their whole team is strong, a lot of them will be buoyant, the Belgian lads have qualified too.
“It is not just one lad you will be focused on.”