NEWCASTLE blew much more than just the opportunity to extend their excellent sequence of away results at Aston Villa - with it went the chance of a shot at the perch they want to sit on in the quest for a return to the Premier League.

Had Rafael Benitez’s side managed to hold on for a few more minutes to claim a fourth successive away victory in the Championship, it would have raised the possibility that top spot would have been within their reach when they face another team relegated from the top-flight, Norwich City, at St James’ Park on Wednesday evening.

Though Benitez doesn’t attach too much significance to the Championship table at this early stage in the season, there was understandable frustration that Newcastle are not breathing down the neck of the new leaders Norwich going into that fixture.

Tommy Elphick’s unfortunate own goal in the first half presented them with a massive helping hand, but they were unable to make the most of it and paid the price when substitute Aaron Tshibola popped up with an 88th-minute equaliser.

Newcastle will now be looking to move to within one point of the high-flying Canaries with a midweek victory, but Benitez insisted: “To be fair, I’m not thinking about the table, just the next game and trying to get three points. 

“We don’t look at the table and think: ‘Oh we have to do this’. We try to get three points and then see where we are after that.

“A draw with Aston Villa away is a good result; maybe for a lot of teams, yes. But after the first-half performance, it is not so good for us.”

After scoring nine times in their previous three away wins, Newcastle wasted the chances that could have added to that impressive tally. 

The deadlock was broken when DeAndre Yedlin’s inviting cross left Villa’s captain with no option but to try and prevent the ball running through to the incoming Dwight Gayle, but he only succeeded in turning it into the back of his own net.

As if that wasn’t bad enough for the former Bournemouth defender, he then handed Gayle a chance to add a second on a plate.

The defensive blunder left Gayle with a clear path to goal, but one-on-one with Pierluigi Gollini, he fired his shot straight at the Villa goalkeeper whose outstretched leg prevented Villa from suffering another self-inflicted blow.

Mo Diame should have done better on two occasions, blazing one shot on the turn high over the bar and then being guilty of an even more glaring miss from 12 yards after being set up by Jonjo Shelvey’s burst down the left.

Newcastle dominated possession in the first half and Villa’s struggle to make any impression in the game led to them being booed off at half time.

The atmosphere changed after the break, however, as a tactical switch by Roberto Di Matteo helped to swing the pendulum his side’s way, but not before a couple more opportunities had been squandered by Gayle and Yedlin.

There was a let-off for Benitez’s side when an assistant referee’s flag ruled that Mile Jedinak was in an offside position when he met Jordan Ayew’s free-kick with a looping header that sailed beyond the reach of Matz Sels into the far corner.

Ayew was to feature prominently as Villa exerted considerable pressure on the Newcastle defence in the closing stages, but they must have wondered if it was going to be just one of those days when his long range shot clipped the outside of the post.

It was the Ghanaian’s left-wing corner swung to the far post that found Tshibola, with the former Hartlepool United loanee squeezing home his header to earn Villa reward for their brave fightback.

The irony was that the frustrating start to the season experienced by Di Matteo’s side has seen them surrender so many points to late goals including each of their last three home matches against Huddersfield, Nottingham Forest and Brentford.

On this occasion, however, it was Villa who profited from grabbing a late goal, even though it was small consolation as it left them with only one win from their first nine games and just three points above the Championship’s relegation zone.

Newcastle have therefore shrugged off their relegation hangover much quicker than Villa, although missed chances are clearly causing a headache. A point left the Magpies in fifth place, four points adrift of Wednesday’s opponents, but on the weight of their first-half chances, they will feel they should be much closer to top spot.