Newcastle United: Eddie Howe warns key players they must 'earn their place' or risk being dropped

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has warned his key players need to "earn their place" or risk being dropped from the starting XI after a tricky start to the season.

Howe's team sit sixth in the Premier League after five games but that does not tell the full story, with the 46 year old admitting he is potentially "going to have to make some difficult decisions" about who starts for the Magpies.

Despite only losing once so far, they have struggled to put together strong performances in the early part of the season and were comprehensively beaten by Fulham last weekend.

Their job will not get easier in the short-term as they welcome reigning champions Manchester City to St James' Park on Saturday.

Newcastle have suffered for a lack of individual form recently, with Bruno Guimarães, Joelinton, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak - who is an injury doubt for this weekend - looking off their best.

Asked about his ideal starting XI, the Newcastle manager said: “Given a blank sheet of paper and you say ‘Go on, write down what your best team is’, I don’t think that would be difficult for me.

“The problem is you have to justify your selection, so those players have to be in their best moment and best form. What you can’t do is pick that team if it doesn’t deserve to play."

He added: “I’m a big believer in rewarding people that are playing well. I’m a big believer in 'there’s no set team', everyone has to earn their place. If you’re not earning your place, you can’t play.

“So we’re in that moment, early season, where players haven’t been in their best form. It’s difficult to pick players if they’re not playing continually well."

Addressing last week's 3-1 loss at Craven Cottage, Howe added: “We reviewed it and we didn’t like ourselves, so there’s been some honest conversations this week, and hopefully there’ll be a response.”

Prior to the game against Fulham, they had won three matches and drawn one, and still remain unbeaten at home.

Manchester City, however, will undoubtedly put that record to the test. They are looking to make further history this season by becoming the first side ever to win five consecutive Premier League titles.

However, Pep Guardiola's team have struggled (relatively compared to elsewhere) at St James' Park in the past few years, with recent games proving close.

The same fixture ended 3-3 in August 2022, before Newcastle secured a 1-0 win in the Carabao Cup last year. City got their own back in the league, though, as they left Tyneside as 3-2 winners thanks to a late goal from Oscar Bobb last time out.

Howe said his players will "have to be on it for every minute" of the game to get a result.

Newcastle striker Alexander Isak scored in the last two of those matches but could miss Saturday's clash as he continues his recovery from a broken toe.

He managed to play with the fracture against Fulham after having a pain-killing injection.

Explaining the situation with his star striker, Eddie Howe said at his press conference on Friday: "It sounds worse than it is, but he’s got a broken toe. It’s one that can be managed and played with providing he can tolerate the pain levels, and that will have no long-term risks.

“He had an injection to numb the toe last week and that was fine until the injection wore off. Let’s see how he is today.”

Matt Targett has been out for the past few weeks with "a flare-up" of eczema.

He will not return this weekend but the manager is hopeful he will be able to start training again today.

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