Villans feel pain at home

Aston Villa 1 Newcastle United 2

The result means Villa have now lost three Premier League games in a row since beginning their top-flight campaign so impressively by winning 3-1 at Arsenal, with the other reverses coming at Chelsea and at home against Liverpool.

Lambert has no doubt the four fixtures have made for a tough start and it seems he may well have regarded Saturday’s meeting with the Magpies at Villa Park as a particularly important opportunity to pick up points.