John McGinn has backed Newcastle United to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat against his Aston Villa side to qualify for the Champions League.
Newcastle's five-game winning run came to an end at Villa Park on Saturday following an uncharacteristically poor performance from the visitors. Newcastle were second best all over the park and the scoreline certainly did not flatter dominant Villa, who ran out comfortable winners after Jacob Ramsey's 11th-minute opener and a second-half double from man of the match Ollie Watkins.
However, as poor as Newcastle were, it was just the Magpies' fourth league defeat of the campaign and Eddie Howe's team remain three points clear of Spurs, with a game in hand, ahead of the Londoners travelling to St James' Park on Sunday. Both of these top four contenders will be looking to bounce back from painful defeats, after Spurs suffered a 3-2 loss against Bournemouth, but Cristian Stellini's fragile side won't exactly be relishing the prospect of a trip to a St James'.
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Newcastle have only lost one game at St James' this season and that home form has been one of the secrets behind the black-and-whites' rise up the table as McGinn discovered, himself, following Villa's 4-0 defeat in the reverse fixture back in October.
“Newcastle are a very good team," the Villa captain said. "They remind me of Leeds a couple of years ago. In the build-up to the game, you know you’ve got to run and fight, prepare a bit extra.
"Even at 1-0, they’re bringing on players who can change the game...I think Newcastle will get Champions League because they deserve it. They’ve made St James’ Park a real fortress. We saw that earlier on this season."
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