Last Updated: Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:04
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert hopes agreement can be reached in his dispute with former club Norwich before it goes before a tribunal.
Lambert will return to Carrow Road for Tuesday's Capital One Cup quarter-final for the first time since his bitter summer departure to join the midlands club.
The Scot and Norwich are both suing each other for breach of contract.
Lambert was also upset when Norwich chairman Alan Bowkett made the matter public at a fans' forum and claimed he had left all of his previous clubs in a similar manner.
But in an ideal world he would like the matter resolved before it goes it goes to arbitration.
Lambert said: "Probably the sad thing is people don't really know what's been going on.
"Is it a source of sorrow it's ended up how it has? Yes, it should never have been the way it is.
"Would you hope it could get sorted amicably? You'd like to think that way. But I just let the lawyers and the LMA (League Managers' Association), who have been brilliant with it, get on with things.
"It's unfair to comment because it's in arbitration and you've got to respect that."
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