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Paul Lambert could send an SOS to compatriot Billy Stark to help stop Aston Villa’s worrying slide.

After four successive defeats, the Midlands club responded by suspending assistant manager Ian Culverhouse and head of football operations Gary Karsa.

They face the sack over allegations of bullying and rising criticisms of training, as revealed by Mirror Sport .

Under-fire boss Lambert has temporarily promoted development coach Gordon Cowans and experienced keeper Shay Given for Saturday’s vital home game with Southampton.

But Lambert is also considering bringing in Stark, who is also the Scotland Under-21s' coach.

(Image: Dean Mouhtaropoulos)

Stark, who like Lambert also used to play in midfield for Celtic, moved into management as Tommy Burns’ assistant at the Glasgow giants in 1994.

He then went on to manage Greenock Morton, St Johnstone and Queen’s Park before joining the SFA in January 2008.