‘He’s a centre-half’ - Lambert on Donacien’s role

Danny Graham holds off Janoi Donacien on the opening day. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM (Image: � Copyright Stephen Waller)

The Saint Lucian was signed from Accrington Stanley in the summer by Paul Hurst, initially on loan ahead of a £750,000 permanent move, and was brought in primarily as a right-back.

But Lambert, who was Donacien’s Aston Villa manager during the early days of his career, sees him very much as a central defender.

“He’s a centre-half,” Lambert said.

“That’s me, I see him as a centre-half. I know he’s played right-back and left-back and he might go to right-back but left-back I’d say no.

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“Right-back maybe if we needed someone to fill into that position but I still see him being strongest as a centre-half.

“He knows he’s got Chambers and Pennington ahead of him but he’s a good pro who does everything asked of him.”

Donacien continues to wait for a biometric residence permit from the Home Office, granting him permanent residence in the UK.

When asked if the Blues are obliged to make that move permanent for the agreed £750,000 once he receives his permit, Lambert said: “I’m not sure about too many of the details because I’ve only just got here.

“I do know a little bit about it, not the whole crux of what it entails, but I don’t worry about that because I train the team and worry about other things later.”

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Lambert was in attendance at Colchester on Monday night as Trevoh Chalobah captained England U20s in their 2-0 victory over Germany.

The Chelsea loanee did so from central defence, where his parent club see his long-term future, but Lambert is happy to continue using the youngster in midfield.

“Chelsea are his parent club and they will see him where they see him but I’ve come in and seen him playing in midfield.

“I saw him play in a back three at Millwall and that didn’t go too well, not just Trevoh but the way the team was playing and confidence being low.

“But in the two midfield games I’ve been here for he’s been excellent.

“To me he looks comfortable in the middle of the pitch.”