Jason Tindall rubbishes claims around Alexander Isak's performance against Aston Villa on Saturday

Newcastle United simply weren't at the races against Aston Villa on Saturday, while our opponents were in superb form.

To a man, Newcastle just looked off the pace. When your one world-class player, Jacob Murphy, has an off day, it's little surprise that the team is going to suffer.

In all seriousness, our top players were all off the boil, and it's hard to remember now, two days on, that Alexander Isak was even on the pitch for most of the game.

The genuinely world-class striker had another tough day in front of goal, drawing a third blank in four games.

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Jason Tindall didn't agree that Newcastle struggled to get Isak involved on Saturday

It's hard to blame Isak, though, as he's often cut adrift as the lone striker with teammates unable to feed him the ball. When Newcastle are pegged back as much as they were on Saturday, Isak doesn't stand a chance.

When asked by BBC Radio Newcastle if his side struggled to get Isak into the game on Saturday, though, Jason Tindall didn't believe that was the case.

“I wouldn’t say we struggled to get him involved.

“Alex has been outstanding for us.

“He’s scored 25 goals for us this season because he’s been so consistent.

“He’s been excellent, sometimes as a striker, as a team, you have sometimes maybe off days when you’re not at your best, but you know, you can’t fault his effort or what he’s given the team throughout this season.”

Alexander Isak will come up against Ipswich on Saturday having already scored three past them this season

Tindall missed an open-goal tap-in there. By saying he doesn't believe we struggled to get him involved suggests that he does think Isak was poor, at least that's how I interpreted it.

Isak has indeed been outstanding for Newcastle; nobody was questioning that, but on Saturday, he was invisible, and Tindall had the excuse handed to him on a plate.

The Swedish striker got his only Newcastle United hat-trick at Portman Road, though, so hopefully when Ipswich Town come to St James' Park on Saturday, he can help himself to another one and essentially erase those three games in which he didn't score.