NOW VILLA AS ELPHICK AS THIEVES
looking to give you that pass and, as a striker, that’s exactly what you want.”
Both Rondon and Almiron should have scored before halftime and, considering the plight Huddersfield find themselves in, the pair may reflect on an afternoon which should have been even more emphatic.
Yet even arch- pragmatist Benitez forgave Almiron his 12thminute miss when, in a one-onone with keeper Jonas Lossl, he chose an audacious dink which dropped onto the foot of the left post rather than a more straightforward finish. “I’ve seen him do MATHIAS JORGENSEN admits Huddersfield teammate Tommy Smith could have no complaints about his dismissal at St James’ Park.
And he claims the 20th-minute incident, when Smith (below) was sent off for scything down Miguel Almiron (above), killed the visitors’ chances of a first league win since November.
“The red card was hugely important,” said Jorgensen. “If you get one in the first half, it will always be difficult to get something out of a game. “We could not argue with it and it had a big impact because we had started s well. Tommy feels bad about it but there t is no blame. He will not go in to do any anything malicious. It was a 50-50 which he tried to win.” Relegation is looking inevitable ahead of o tomorrow night’s game against Wolves. Jor Jorgensen added: “We all u understand the ser serious position we are in and a it does not get an any easier. But we have to find a way out of th this slump and Tuesday is a chance to put a smile on people’s fa faces.” that before on some clips but it was something that no one was expecting,” said Toon chief Benitez, who believes three more wins should secure Premier League survival.
“The crowd enjoy a player with that kind of energy and movement and you could see he was trying to do things. He did well right from the start.”
Almiron (a hero to the crowd already, right) will find Burnley a different proposition tomorrow night. But if he carries on playing like he did on Saturday, Newcastle really could have a new star on their hands. Referee ........................ Kevin Friend Attendance ............................. 52,174
SEAN LONGSTAFF
mirror.co.uk/sport/football STOKE
ASTON VILLA Adomah 62
TOMMY ELPHICK admitted Villa need to win 10 games on the bounce to make the play-offs.
The defender revealed how a few home truths from manager Dean Smith jolted the players into rescuing a draw.
The top six is a tall order but Elphick believes Smith’s message has hit home.
He said: “The gaffer came in at half-time and gave us a few home truths about looking like a team, being a team, and being a good team-mate.
“It’s something we’ve spoken about in recent weeks and I’ve spoken about in my time with Bournemouth and Hull.
“My time with Hull really enforced my beliefs in what you need in a dressing room to do something in this league and the second half was a real team performance. Whether MILLWALL PRESTON 1 1 there were mistakes or something going wrong, we all reacted as a group. In the first half we were playing as individuals..”
Villa are eight points off the top six and their next three matches are against Derby, Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest.
A point apiece was not much good to either side.
Sam Vokes scored his first goal for the Potters in the fifth minute before leaving the field with a groin injury which will keep him out for days rather than weeks.
Sub Albert Adomah scored the equaliser after replacing skipper Alan Hutton, who could have a serious knee injury.
Stoke manager Nathan Jones is also questioning his players’ mentality.
He said: “We make sure we work on being more on the front foot. It’s a confidence thing. We need the mentality to go and perform and to get right at it. That is what we work hard at doing.”