Alex McLeish: No row with duo

Alex McLeish brushed off suggestions of a spat with Stephen Ireland – even though the midfielder was clearly seen swearing at him during Villa's 2-1 loss at Newcastle.

The Villa boss substituted Ireland, one of the club's best performers recently, at half-time after he confirmed the player had an ankle injury.

Ireland had earlier told McLeish to "f*** off" as the pair exchanged words concerning his failure to close down Newcastle's Danny Guthrie for the home side's opening goal.

But in his post-match press conference McLeish felt the media were making something out of nothing.

"I never saw the eff-off thing. I know he spoke back," said the Scot.

"I wouldn't be so petty to take a player off for something like that (swearing) if he's doing a fantastic job. Stevie had an ankle problem.

"The opposition have a great work ethic, the whole lot of them. That was the reason for their first goal.

"I don't even know why you (the media) want to elaborate on it. It's trivial."

To cap a miserable day for McLeish, Villa winger Charles N'Zogbia revealed on Twitter: "For the first time in my life I'm not happy playing football."

It is not known whether the French winger will be punished for his outburst.

McLeish said the decision to substitute him for Emile Heskey in the 66th minute was a tactical one.