Rafa Benitez: Newcastle had 'too much anxiety' in Aston Villa draw

Sunderland win leaves Toon on the brink of relegation

Rafa Benitez instructs his side during the 0-0 draw with Aston Villa (Getty)

Rafael Benitez blamed the “anxiety” of his players for their 0-0 draw at Aston Villa which puts them desperately close to relegation from the Premier League.

Newcastle slipped to one point behind Sunderland and now need a very unlikely turnaround if they are to stay up, having caused Aston Villa nowhere near enough problems in an underwhelming display at Villa Park. While Benitez insisted that Newcastle still have a chance, he recognised that their position now was “bad and simple”, compared to their local rivals.

“I think that we didn’t play well,” Benitez said after the goalless draw. “Maybe because of too much anxiety, which made the players tense. We could not do what we wanted.”

Only when Benitez introduced Aleksandar Mitrovic in the second half did Newcastle have any real threat against a resolute Villa side. “In the second half there was a better reaction, the team created some chances and at least we were there close to the box, pushing and pushing,” Benitez said. “When they have so many people behind the ball defending you cannot find a chance. You need to score, but you know they can be dangerous on the counter-attack. If you give the ball away you lose confidence, and when you are under pressure you make mistakes.”

If Sunderland beat Everton on Wednesday night then they will be safe, and Benitez said all his side could do was wait and see if their season is still alive next Sunday. “Our situation is bad and simple,” he said. “We have to wait and after, try to win, but we do not know what they will do. Obviously it depends on them more than us, but we will have to fight to get three points and see what happens. Everyone is disappointed.”

Aston Villa caretaker Eric Black was pleased with his players who ended a run of 11 consecutive league defeats. “We worked tirelessly against an extremely good Newcastle team,” he said. “We knew we would be in for a difficult day defensively, but the players dealt excellently with it. Today we took a step towards the supporters, and their response was breathtaking. They could see that the players showed passion and endeavour, and worked tirelessly.”

The Villa Park crowd gave the players a vocal send-off in the last Premier League match of the season. “The most important point was to get the supporters back onside,” Black said. “The atmosphere can be close to the twelfth man here, we need them. The players deserve credit.”