Aston Villa caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald pointed to his team selection as the possible reason his side were thumped 6-0 at Newcastle on Sunday.

Defender Ciaran Clark and midfielder Marc Albrighton, both 20, struggled as Newcastle ran riot.

"It might have been too much playing a couple of kids, maybe I was a bit wrong with my selection," said MacDonald.

Regarding the Villa job, he added: "I've said come the end of next week I'd sit down and look at things."

Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov later revealed complacency about the trip to St James' Park.

"We thought we were going to come over here and get an easy game after our performance last week [a winning start against West Ham].

"But last week was last week and we need to be prepared for every single game. We are really disappointed because our defensive record has been great."

MacDonald took over the reins after Martin O'Neill resigned a few days before the start of the season.

In his first game in charge Villa beat West Ham 3-0 but the man praised for his work with the reserves may now find himself under pressure.

The 49-year-old, who was a member of Liverpool's Double-winning squad of 1986, paid tribute to Newcastle but said Villa striker John Carew's penalty miss changed the momentum after his side dominated the early exchanges.

"It was a very disappointing result," he stated. "We started well and got the penalty but then Carew missed and it changed the momentum.

"We then got hammered. Even if we had scored it doesn't mean we would have held on and won the game but full credit to Newcastle. They took chances and played well, especially in the second half, but when you're 3-0 up it helps."

606: DEBATE What did you think of Newcastle's performance? Where do Villa go from here?

Opposite number Chris Hughton was delighted with his side's display and praised hat-trick hero Andy Carroll.

Newcastle, who lost 3-0 in their opening league fixture at Manchester United last week, were up and running when Joey Barton fired in from 20 yards within three minutes of Carew's miss.

Goals from Carroll and Kevin Nolan gave the Magpies a 3-0 lead at half-time before Nolan hooked in his second and Carroll scored two more to round off the impressive display.

"I watched Aston Villa last weekend and thought they were emphatic in everything they did - and we expected a tough game," commented Hughton.

"But once we got the first goal it lifted any fears we might have had and after half-time we managed to keep it going.

"There was an intensity to our play but you have got to have goalscoring opportunities. We were able to go right through to the end and as it got more open it suited us more."

On Carroll, Hughton added: "He is still developing but what he has is great desire and aptitude to improve. He's a bit of a throwback, a local lad and he took his goals very, very well."

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