“It was lapses of concentration for their first two goals which cost us the game,” said Big Sam. “We started the game very well up until they scored the first goal and then we got one back before half-time and that lifted us. We took that impetus into the second half and continued to push Newcastle back, got the chances but missed them, and it was as simple as that really.
“You are going to go behind in games and sometimes need to come from behind and we had the opportunity to get something, but unfortunately failed to do it in the end. By the time they scored the last goal, it was insignificant as it came in the last few seconds, but everything we tried in the second half came good apart from what we needed most, which was a finish on target to put the ball in the back of the net.
“From all the opportunities we created, we didn't do that and, because of that, we didn't get the goal we were looking for to get something out of the game.”