Tindall: Magpies can 'rely' on in-form Murphy | OneFootball

The Magpies head to Aston Villa on Saturday (kick-off 5:30pm BST) on the back of six successive wins - a run of form which has lifted them to third in the Premier League table - and Murphy's superb recent form has helped sustain United's push for Champions League qualification.

Assistant head coach Tindall again stood in for Howe at Friday morning's media briefing, and - along with Graeme Jones - will lead the team again at Villa Park this weekend as Howe continues to recover from pneumonia.

Wednesday's win over Palace, the form of Murphy and fellow wideman Harvey Barnes and the issue of team selection were all topics covered by Tindall. Here are some of the main talking points from Friday's pre-match gathering:

On Murphy...

"Full credit to Jacob. He's been at the football club a long time and I'm sure if he was someone we signed at the start of the season or January from somewhere then he would be receiving more plaudits than he is. His performances certainly don't surprise myself or the manager.

"He works extremely hard on a day-to-day basis. He takes everything in tactically and week-in, week-out we know we can rely on him."

On Barnes...

"It's testament to all the players who weren't starting games for a period - they come in and deliver performances, but you can only do that if you've got the right attitude in your work day-in, day-out and are consistent, you're mentally strong and deal with frustrations in the right way.

"Certainly Harvey has done that since he's come into the team. He's delivered excellent performances individually, but team performances as well."

On team selection...

"When you're in good form and winning games it becomes difficult to change your team unless you feel players aren't performing and I don't think anyone can say that because the players are collectively and individually delivering excellent performances.

"In some senses the team does pick itself, but we've got a fantastic squad and everyone's played their part this season. Everybody is going to need to play their part in the remaining six games."

On the midweek thrashing of Palace...

"(We were) really pleased with the performance. The most important thing was that we showed consistency and backed up the performance we put in against Manchester United. I was absolutely delighted."