Given: Newcastle need new players

He said: “It would be nice to get a couple of new players in this week so they don’t get cup-tied after the games on Saturday.

“I don’t know what the crack is in terms of new signings but we all know we need to get some new players in quickly.

“The chairman is aware of that and he has said before he wants to strengthen. The manager has his targets and in an ideal world we would get them in this week.

“You could see against United we only had 11 fit players to put in – there are more injured players than fit players.

“We need new faces to add numbers to a small squad. If we get the great quality of player as well, then that will help the squad no end.

“It’s not just about numbers, it’s about the calibre of players coming in, too. We need both, we need new faces but we also need good players as well.”