The Magpies, who take on Aston Villa at St James' Park, have not picked up two successive league victories since Kevin Keegan guided them to victory at Tottenham Hotspur at the end of March and a home success over Reading at the beginning of April.

And even though Newcastle are right at the bottom of the Barclays Premier League table following Saturday's results and Bolton Wanderers' victory over Manchester City on Sunday, Kinnear remains upbeat.

massive boost

The Newcastle interim manager said: "Prior to West Brom I looked at the two home games, last Tuesday when we won 2-1 and Monday against Villa, and thought they were two good games for us that we could get three points each from.

"Winning against West Brom was a massive boost for everyone here. I am now optimistic that we have a good chance of beating Aston Villa. But they will be confident too.

"They are the team that is bang in form at the moment. They have stuck with a number of British players and they have a number of very good players who are looking at that top-four position."