Newcastle United v Aston Villa, Premier League

The Villains extended their winless run to 16 games this weekend as they managed a 1-1 draw at Newcastle United, a result which neither team particularly need.

“We have to battle for that and when we are in a situation where we have nothing to lose, we start to play and that was the case”.

Both sides started in the knowledge that their relegation rivals Norwich City had taken three points at Old Trafford with a 2-1 win over Manchester United, but neither started with much ambition.

However, there was no shortage of quality in the second half, as Jordan Ayew lashed in a superb equaliser to ensure the game ended one all.

Papiss Cisse pulled up with an off-the-ball injury just minutes after forcing Brad Guzan into action for the first time in the 29th minute, and his replacement Aleksandar Mitrovic made an immediate impact for the right and wrong reasons.

Aston Villa’s Jordan Ayew celebrates scoring their first goal with Leandro Bacuna. “They’ve now got seven points, so they’ve got to find 30 points from 21 games”, the former midfielder explained.

“If we play like we did in the second half, I think we will win games”. Both clubs have struggled this season but the victories over Liverpool and Spurs have seen Newcastle put some space between themselves and the club who are “propping up the table” as they say.

But after climbing up to 15th in the Premier League, albeit just a point above the bottom three, the Newcastle boss insists nothing can be taken for granted with Christmas approaching.

“I think the mentality of the players this afternoon in second half was brilliant”, the Frenchman, who is yet to win since replacing Tim Sherwood last month, told Sky Sports.

Second-half substitutes Mitrovic and Perez got their reward with the goals after coming on, and Coloccini was delighted for the deadly duo.

The nature of the two reverses – with the Magpies conceding eight goals after woeful defensive displays – had led many people to fear the worst for the season. “We will continue to work hard”.

The Magpies were performing well below recent expectations but, as the first half wore on, they began to ask more probing questions of the opposition defence. “But it was a goal and it got the team a point”.