Lambert - The lads had nothing to be ashamed of

City boss Paul Lambert refused to dwell on the injury-time error by goalkeeper Fraser Forster that led to Leeds United's winning goal at Elland Road last night.

Forster's sliced goal-kick fell into the path of striker Jermaine Beckford, who gratefully accepted the chance to add to his goal tally and complete a 2-1 win for his side after missing a string of opportunities. But Lambert said the 21-year-old loan 'keeper had performed well until that moment, and would take a lesson from the experience. He said: "He will learn from it. He's a young kid. He made two terrific saves for us."

Forster appeared to have a back problem in the second half and City had Declan Rudd warming up for a while, but they decided against a change. Lambert said Forster''s back was "giving him a little bit of concern" but did not think it was a factor in his poor kick. He said: "That's the nature of the game - they make mistakes and we just have to pick them up. But the lads had nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be disappointed about because we were excellent. The way we played the game, that's as good as we have been. I've seen some terrific games from us and that's certainly up there. But with a bit of luck and better bounce of the ball we'd have got the winner."

He added: "We were terrific and dominated the game for long spells.

"I may be biased, people may think I'm absolutely barking mad, but we were the better team. We never deserved to lose it, we deserved to win the game. We should have been two up. But we'll drive on again next Saturday and if we keep playing the way we're playing, we'll be right in it, if we keep that level of form and enthusiasm for the game." A thigh injury ruled midfielder Korey Smith out of last night's match and full-back Jon Otsemobor was limping as he left the ground after a blow on the foot. Forster's back problem will be the other main concern.