United boss disappointed to lose win

STEVE Bruce tried to remain philosophical about Newcastle United’s late collapse against Aston Villa.

A mix-up between Martin Dubravka and Jonjo Shelvey allowed Ahmed Elmohamady to grab a leveller to earn relegationhaunted Villa a point.

But the result puts Newcastle on 39 points – four better off than this time last year – and 12 points above the relegation zone.

After the game Bruce said: “It’s the first goal we have conceded at home in five games.

“If somebody had said we’d get four points from the first two games in these awful times I’d have accepted it.

“But we are disappointed.“Despite the late equaliser, Newcastle are still in with a shout of a top-10 place and things are getting congested in the top half of the table.

Bruce added: “We would have all accepted [the points total] but we can’t forget that we have a great opportunity to push on a bit now.

“Can we push on and catch the teams above us and finish the season looking upwards, rather than just looking over our shoulders?”

Meanwhile, Villa boss Dean Smith said he was annoyed at his side after they picked up just a point.

He said: “It’s an annoying point. The majority of the game I thought we were the better team.

“Our defensive display was good but we have to be more clinical.

“There are lots of positives to take.

“The commitment from the players was great, I thought we threw the kitchen sink at them.

“We were throwing everything at their box trying to get back into the game, and then we almost won it.

“We had a bit of stick at the weekend about not having much of the ball against Chelsea but they’re a well established Premier League team.”