Pardew's life of 'luxury' fighting on all fronts

Alan Pardew said the headache of attempting to challenge on four fronts with Newcastle United is a "luxury" compared to some of the jobs he has had.

Newcastle are through to the group stage of the Europa League, and will also compete in the Capital One and FA cups, and aim to maintain their status as a top-five Premier League club.

Asked if that was the toughest challenge of his managerial career to date, Pardew said: "No, trust me. When you sell a Premier League squad and go into the Championship and don't pull any players in, that's tough.

"Nothing that I had at Charlton [Athletic] would match that, I don't think. It was very difficult.

"Minus 10 points at Southampton with no team - no, I have been in much bigger problems than this. This is a luxury in some respects, and I am enjoying it."

Newcastle face Aston Villa at the Sports Direct Arena today. Cheick Tiote, the Ivory Coast midfielder, and defender Ryan Taylor are likely to miss the game.

New striker Jason Bowery is included in the Villa squad after moving from Chesterfield, but striker Gabriel Agbonlahor, winger Marc Albrighton and central defender Richard Dunne are still ruled out through injury.

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