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Taylor: "We Shot Ourselves In The Foot"
Written by Newcastle Utd
Fit-again Ryan Taylor spoke to nufc.co.uk after United's heavy defeat at Manchester City on Saturday
By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor
Fit-again midfielder Ryan Taylor stepped off the bench to make his first appearance in three months on Saturday.
However, the 30-year-old was left apologsing to Newcastle United fans at the final whistle after the Magpies suffered a 5-0 defeat at Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City.
Taylor played the final 20 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, having recovered from a knee injury suffered in November, but by the time he got on the pitch Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko and David Silva - twice - had all found the target.
"We went into the game full of confidence after winning here back in October in the cup, but our confidence was zapped within a minute," Taylor told nufc.co.uk.
"We thought they might have an eye on their game against Barcelona and that we could capitalise on that, but we shot ourselves in the foot and everyone's faces tell the story.
"Being 3-0 down at half-time, we wanted to go out and try to win the second half. We wanted a goal to try and build our confidence back up, but it just wasn't to be.
"They scored early on and then got their fifth within another minute or two, and you look at yourselves and think 'hang on, let's not make this embarrassing'.
"I wasn't on the pitch at the time but it was tough to take, even as a substitute.
"For me, it was pleasing to get back on the pitch. I love playing for this football club and have done since the day I signed.
"I was given the chance to play about 20 minutes and it was nice to be back out there, although not in the circumstances of the game."
Top flight strugglers Aston Villa are next up for United, as they come to St. James' Park next Saturday.
And Taylor believes an open and honest team debrief on Monday will help the Magpies move on from their defeat against City, and focus fully on bouncing back with a victory.
"We can build confidence through the week on the training pitch," he explained.
"It's going to be a tough week. We will have a meeting on Monday, discussions about the game and a lot of people standing up and having their say on what went on.
"That's what we need - to get it out in the open, have a chat about it and then focus on training well and making sure we are fully prepared to face Aston Villa next weekend.
"We have to put it right against Villa and get three points for the fans, because we let them down.
"All we can do is apologise and try to correct it for them next Saturday."