Aston Villa can still progress in League Cup - Paul Lambert

Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert insisted his team can still reach the Capital One Cup final despite a shock semi-final first-leg defeat at Bradford.

The League Two club beat their Premier League opponents 3-1 at Valley Parade.

But Lambert said: "We're still in the tie, absolutely. It'll be a different game at home. It's only half time.

"You have to regroup and go again. We've got to come out of the blocks. There's no grey area. We know what we have to do. We have to play better."

Bradford, 60 league places beneath their more illustrious opponents, established a two-goal advantage for the second leg on 22 January before a thunderous home support.

Lambert admitted his team's failure to defend corners against a team which had previously knocked Arsenal and Wigan out of the competition proved costly.

"You can't defend corners the way we did and expect to get away with it," said the Scot, whose team have won only one of their last seven league matches.

Nahki Wells gave Phil Parkinson's side a first-half advantage as goalkeeper Matt Duke produced a series of outstanding saves to keep Villa at bay.

Rory McArdle's powerful header from a corner doubled Bradford's advantage before Andreas Weimann reduced the deficit, giving the visitors hope.

But Bradford's third goal, with Carl McHugh this time heading home a Gary Jones corner, put Parkinson's men in command of the tie.

"We had a lot of the ball and their goalkeeper made good saves but if you don't defend set-pieces that's what can happen," added Lambert.

"I can't fault the lads for effort. We had a lot of chances and on another night they might have gone in but that's certainly not good enough for us.

"We have another chance to retrieve this. We will have to see what happens in a fortnight's time."

Watch highlights of both semi-final first legs on The League Cup Show on BBC One & the BBC Sport website from 23:05 GMT on Wednesday, 9 January