Paul Lambert has hailed Aston Villa winger Charles N'Zogbia as a "real talent" as he showed the form at West Brom which could help to keep his side in the Barclays Premier League.
N'Zogbia has endured a frustrating 18 months at Villa since making the £9million move from Wigan and this season has also been sidelined by a knee problem.
But he demonstrated in the 2-2 draw at The Hawthorns on Saturday the sort of ability Lambert would dearly like him to reproduce on a regular basis.
N'Zogbia set up both Villa goals - for Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor - and caused constant problems to the Baggies back four.
A share of the spoils was sufficient to move Villa out of the bottom three although any joy was tempered by surrendering a two-goal lead.
Lambert said: "I thought Charles was excellent. That is what he has got in his make-up. There is no doubt that Charles is a real talent, a real, real talent.
"He goes past people as if they're not that at times. In the first half he was excellent. I would also like to see him shoot because he has the ability to do it."
It was a surprise when Lambert substituted N'Zogbia midway through the second period given the extent of his contribution.
But the Villa manager insisted: "I took Charles off because he has got a lot of games coming up. Remember that he's back from a long lay-off so you have to watch him. We have to protect him."
Lambert concentrated on the positives from his side's performance rather than the frustration at surrendering the lead.
He said: "I was not happy with conceding two goals but the performance and effort was excellent.
"I thought we should have been out of sight in the first half and we played some fantastic football.
"We knew West Brom would come back strongly but we will take a lot of confidence out of that performance."
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