Shay Given believes Newcastle United's players looked "tired" during their 3-0 defeat against Aston Villa.
The Magpies sunk to their heaviest defeat of the season as Ollie Watkins bagged a brace, and Jacob Ramsey also got on the scoresheet.
Newcastle remain third in the table as it stands, although Manchester United can leapfrog them if they beat Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
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Former Newcastle goalkeeper Given says the Magpies looked 'off it' but believes they're still in a strong position in the top four race.
"They’ve had a poor day at the office, you can put it down to that. But, you look at the table and it’s a little bit refreshing to see that Tottenham are still three points behind them and Newcastle have got a better goal difference.
"When it comes to today’s performance they were just off, they actually looked a bit tired. You try and look for reasons and excuses after the game for why they’ve played so poorly and they looked a bit off it.
"Tactically the team selection at the start of the game - Gordon coming in, they changed up the midfield with Joelinton coming in as well with Longstaff on the bench for the first time in a while.
"There’s little things like that but you can’t take it away from Aston Villa, they were absolutely brilliant and Ollie Watkins, what a performance he put in."
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