Kieran Trippier tells Sky Sports Aston Villa have handed Newcastle United a Champions League 'reality check'
Newcastle United defender Kieran Trippier felt his side were handed a bit of a ‘reality check’ with a 4-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday evening.
It ended a run of six straight wins for Newcastle in all competitions. While they remain third in the Premier League with five games remaining, Aston Villa are now just two points behind them in the table.
By the time Newcastle play Ipswich Town next time out at St James’ Park, they could be as low as fifth in the table.
Ollie Watkins, Ian Maatsen, Amadou Onana and a Dan Burn own goal saw Villa claim a convincing home win with Fabian Schar scoring for Newcastle in the first half.
Kieran Trippier reacts to Newcastle United loss
Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier had a difficult afternoon after an impressive run of form in the side. Within 40 seconds, Villa had taken the lead through Watkins’ deflected effort.
Maatsen’s strike and Burn’s own goal also came down Trippier’s side as Newcastle’s winning streak came to an end in emphatic fashion.
Reflecting on the game, he told Sky Sports: “They scored straight away but a good reaction from us in the first half. Full credit to Villa, they are a top side with a top manager. They played very well and are a strong team.
"You go into every game to win. Today we were confident but Villa played very well and they deserved their victory.”
A ‘reality check’ for Newcastle United
Newcastle assistant manager Jason Tindall named an unchanged line-up for the seventh successive match. And Trippier was asked whether tiredness had played its part after three games in six days.
“We can't use [tiredness] as an excuse,” added the right-back. “The manager picks the eleven, we've been unchanged and that's it. We focus on the next game and that's against Ipswich.
"We want to qualify for the Champions League. Today was a setback but we've got a full week to recover and analyse where we went through today.
"You come into games like this against teams like this and it's a bit of a reality check maybe."