Matthias Jaissle has admitted his Newcastle United side are experiencing a "reality check" after they slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa at St James' Park.
Newcastle managed just one shot on target and were undone by a Johan Manzambi goal, with the forward left free in the box. Speaking after the game, Jaissle said his defence had given Villa a "total gift".
Jaissle's honest assessment
"It is a reality check, but you will always get that after just a couple of months. Especially after you have been through a transitional phase like us," Jaissle said.
"There will be ups and downs for us; at the moment, it is a down. And that is not up for discussion, it's a down. For us, it was a step forward in terms of what happened between the boxes, but we have to learn fast."
"We need to learn how to defend clinically in the box without making easy mistakes. We gave Aston Villa a gift today. We needed to be efficient in the final third as we did have occasions in the box. If we were clinical, we'd have left at least with a draw."
Dan Burn used as striker
By the end, with the team booed off by frustrated fans, Jaissle sent on 6ft 7in veteran Dan Burn in attack, but the centre-back could not force the issue. Asked to explain the decision to rely on a 34-year-old defender as a striker, Jaissle said: "I think you're smart enough to know this was a tactical approach for the additional time."
"We went all in and in that occasion, I'm aware he is a centre-back so don't doubt that. He is getting the physical back which is really important for him. He was quite long out but he is getting better and better physical wise. Hopefully soon we can see him again in his natural position."
Positives despite defeat
Jaissle searched for positives after the slender loss, reflecting: "Defensive-wise; I think the structure and discipline was good but not all the time and in the Premier League against a strong opponent one occasion is enough to concede a goal and that was too easy - losing a man in the box, we need to put pressure on the cross. Again, we need to be more efficient offensive-wise."
"We need to be honest - we were shaking a bit until half-time but we showed again a good response. Second 45 minutes, really aggressive from our lads. We won the duels, unfortunately we were not smart enough in the final decision-making in the opposition box so that is something we need to work on."
"We need to threaten the opposition much more when we have the ball in the final third. We had the occasions but in the end, the lucky punch was missing."
