Aston Villa lost 1-0 to Newcastle United today, with relegation a real concern now.
Aston Villa’s hopes of staying in the Premier League took another major blow after a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United earlier today.
Papiss Cisse’s goal before half time was enough to give Newcastle the three points, leaving Villa in 19th place in the Premier League table.
New manager Tim Sherwood has now tasted defeat twice in his opening two games as Villa boss, and time is running out for them to mount a great escape.
With just 11 games to play, Villa need to start picking up points quickly, and now face three crucial games against West Brom, Sunderland and Swansea City.
Sherwood was obviously disappointed to have lost for the second time in a week having been defeated by Stoke City a week ago, but had words of encouragement for his side.
The former Tottenham boss told the official Aston Villa website that while his predecessor Paul Lambert was trying to take the pressure off his side, he is trying to do the opposite – he wants his players to feel the pressure and realise the desperate situation they are in.
“The dressing room is very disappointed. But the nature of the game is onwards and upwards,” said Sherwood. “I am ramping up the pressure on them. I am telling them ‘we can’t drop any more points.’ Let’s take it upon ourselves.
“Managers try and take the pressure off. I think Paul Lambert’s probably been trying to do that to the guys all season. I’m going to try the other way. I’m going to put it on them.”
“We’re under pressure boys. This is a massive football club with a lot of good people involved in it. The fans are magnificent. I think it’s time we turn the pressure valves up already. Let’s put pressure on ourselves to try and get points in these last few games,” he added.
With just 22 points to their name, Villa would need six wins from their last 11 games to hit the magic 40 point mark, which is widely considered to be the points total needed to stay in the Premier League – which is heavily unlikely considering their goalscoring troubles this season.
Instead, their best hope is just to scrape a finish above survival rivals QPR or Burnley, who sit level on points with Villa right now.
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