Paul Lambert felt his Aston Villa side did not deserve to lose 1-0 to Newcastle United on Sunday.
The West Midlands club were good value for a goal in the first half at St James' Park but failed to breach Tim Krul's defence before Loic Remy swooped in injury-time to give the home side maximum points.
Villa produced some good chances in a dominant 20-minute spell in the north east but came away goalless to cop a third defeat in four outings which saw them drop to 13th on the Premier League table which was not deserved according to Lambert.
"I don't think we deserved to lose it. I think, especially in the first half, we created chance after chance and looked really threatening," he told Sky Sports.
"In the second half I didn't think anybody was going to score, albeit Newcastle had a bit of pressure, but it was a defensive error that got punished.
"I thought a draw was probably fair.
"It was a defensive error that hurt us and we should have taken our chances in the first half."
As for Villa's survival hopes, Lambert was feeling positive despite his side sitting just four points above the drop zone.
"We can take a lot from the way we played and if we can keep playing like that we will win more than not," he added.
"There are a lot of games still to play and we just have to try and win the next one."
