RAFAEL BENITEZ refused to pin all the blame on missed chances as Newcastle were denied the opportunity to close the gap at the top of the Championship table to just two points by Aaron Tshibola’s late equaliser at Villa Park.

Though Benitez conceded that his side should have had the game won by half-time, he was also concerned at the way they allowed a Villa side short on confidence to claw their way back into the contest which led to the dramatic late twist.

Tshibola’s 88th-minute header cancelled out an own goal from Villa defender Tommy Elphick in a period of the game when Newcastle created a number of other excellent opportunities to secure a fourth successive away win in the Championship.

Benitez will be looking for his side to show more consistency as they aim to mount a challenge for a return to the Premier League at the first attempt.

“We had a lot of chances, so many clear chances that we could finish the game, but in the second half we have to defend a little better,” he commented.

“There were too many situations where the ball was around our box and we need to improve our defending as a team when we’re under that pressure.

“We made some mistakes when defending, so the key for me is that we need to be more consistent. We have to keep calm and work hard to do that.”

He added: “The positive was the first half when we were dominant and the team was strong enough to defend and to create those chances. You could see a great team creating a lot of chances, but the final score means that we didn’t take our chances. 

“I think all managers would say the same thing when you are faced with this kind of result. You have to take your chances. That’s football.”

Former Villa defender Ciaran Clark knows he and his colleagues will be left in no doubt about where it went wrong on his return to the West Midlands.

“We got a little bit sloppy and we got punished for that,” admitted the Republic of Ireland defender. “The manager sees where we can improve and he lets us know. I’m sure we’ll be watching the game to see where we went wrong in the second half.

“Villa had a lot of corners and they put a lot of balls into the box that we managed to deal with, but there was just one slip and that proved costly.”

He added: “It’s frustrating that it was so late when we conceded the goal, but it’s such a strong division that you cannot take any game for granted.

“It’s another point on the board and probably overall it was a fair result, so we take that and move on. We must keep trying to improve.”