Beardsley Eyeing Victory At Villa

By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter

Peter Beardsley says he's seen a reaction from his players in training this week after Newcastle United Under-23s were beaten at West Ham last week.

The Magpies went down 3-1 in the capital despite a spirited second half showing at Dagenham's Chigwell Construction Stadium.

Beardsley's side travel to Aston Villa on Monday afternoon (3pm kick-off) looking to right the wrongs of last week.

And United's football development manager says that while he's seen a renewed determination in his charges this week, it's out on the pitch where Newcastle's second string must deliver.

"We probably had a reaction in training, but ultimately you're judged on the games, which is what I tell the lads. They do a lot of good work in the week, but ultimately games are what matter," Beardsley told nufc.co.uk.

"You look at every club in the world, when they go to buy a player, they judge it on a match. I would've thought that a lot of them would have been disappointed personally because there will have been a lot of scouts there trying to get players on loan, and with what they saw on Monday, not many of them covered themselves in glory.

"They've been very positive this week, and I think when you're like that, every player, once you've lost a game or played as badly as we did, wants to react and you want to try and put it right. The proof is in the pudding on Monday - we're not going to kid ourselves that we've got the answer now, but certainly on Monday we expect better.

"What more motivation do they need? Bank Holiday Monday, three o'clock in the afternoon, at Villa Park. It's the perfect game for them to try and bounce back."

Beardsley could make a few alterations to his line-up this week, with Gael Bigirimana now having left for Coventry City and Curtis Good pushing for a place in the squad.

"Everybody that was left behind last week that we were unsure of will certainly be back in the frame and fighting for a recall," he said.

"We're hoping Curtis is going to come and play, and that wasn't an injury thing last week - it was the fact that Stuart (Findlay) and Kyle (Cameron) did so well at Norwich. We couldn't change it last week, but obviously now, everybody is in the mix.

"I thought Lubo Satka was outstanding, to be fair to him, considering he's not a right back, but apart from Freddie (Woodman) with all due respect to them all, I would say the other nine would be up for selection in the sense that if you're on the bench or you're one of the ones that missed out, you would expect to have a chance of a recall.

"Obviously they're not all going to play, but there will definitely be a couple of changes at least."

United, though, have managed to retain the nucleus of their under-23 squad this summer, with only a few players having departed.

And Beardsley says that while his side are stronger for it, there are plenty of benefits for players spending temporary spells playing first team football at other clubs.

"It's a catch-22, in the sense that we want them to go on loan if they go to the right club, but also, we want some of them to stay here because some of them aren't ready to go on loan yet," he said.

"But some are, and some have been. You look at Macaulay Gillesphey who's gone back to Carlisle - that was a common sense loan for me. He did well, he came back a better player, and hopefully when he comes back he'll be an even better player. For me, that's common sense.

"There'll be another couple like that, where through no fault of theirs, they're probably above the 23s in terms of standard and level, but they have to prove that every week and that's why they go on loan.

"When they do go on loan, they have to learn to win, because men in that dressing room are fighting for their lives."