Graham Potter explains Adam Lallana absence against Aston Villa and rates his chances of returning at Newcastle United

Lallana, 33, started against Burnley last week in the 3-0 loss but was missing from the match day squad for today's loss to Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa.

Potter will hope to have Lallana - and his key defender Adam Webster - back for their trip to Newcastle next weekend.

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"Lallana felt his hamstring in the week," said Potter after the match. "We will see how he goes for Newcastle. It was only a small one but enough to miss this game.

"Adam Webster has had a little setback with his [groin] injury. So again we will see how he goes this week but looking unlikely for Newcastle."

Villa's Matty Cash opened the scoring for Gerrard's men. The Villa full-back broke the deadlock with a fine early finish before taking off his shirt to reveal a “stay strong” message to Dynamo Kiev defender and his Poland temmate Tomasz Kedziora, receiving a caution in the process.

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Ollie Watkins then scored his first goal since December in the 68th minute to wrap up Villa’s victory.

Potter added: "We are frustrated with the scoreline but performance-wise I thought we were OK. We started well and their first goal came out of nothing. The effort and character of the players was very good.

"It feels like we have been punished for our mistake, especially for the second goal. The players tried to fight to get back in but it wasn't to be.

"We were pushing and had some opportunities to attack. The boys kept going. Aston Villa are a decent side. They defended in numbers and defended well."

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