ALEX McLeish will order his players to always acknowledge their supporters at the end of games after many of them ignored their loyal away fans at Newcastle.

Only a handful of the 14 who played in yesterday’s 2-1 defeat at the Sports Direct Arena applauded the 1,300-strong claret and blue army at the final whistle.

McLeish, Barry Bannan, Darren Bent and Shay Given were among the few who clapped the supporters who made the gruelling 400-mile round trip in freezing conditions.

Asked his opinion of the Villa players who trudged down the tunnel without acknowledging their fans, McLeish replied: “They shouldn’t be doing that.

“Even if they go over and get abused, they should still do it.

“They need to show a bit of humility. I will have a word with them on that.”

Stephen Ireland was seen swearing at McLeish after Newcastle’s first-half opener and the midfielder failed to emerge for the second half of the match.

But McLeish confirmed Ireland was injured and was substituted for that reason rather than his foul-mouthed rant at the manager.

At his post-match press conference, the Villa boss felt too much was being made of the exchange and insisted he “wouldn’t be so petty” to take Ireland off for something so “trivial”.

“I never saw the eff-off thing,” said McLeish.

“I know he spoke back, but at the same time the players don’t like their manager screaming at them from the touchline. “But I kick every ball with them, I care. I wouldn’t be so petty to take a player off for something like that if he’s doing a fantastic job.

“I don’t even know why you want to elaborate on it.