'Things could get frustrating before they get better'

In the space of barley 36 hours Eddie Howe went from a pre-match press conference dominated by discussion as to why he wasn’t interviewed for the England Manager’s role, to a more humbling post-match interview with me, where for the second successive game, Newcastle’s Head Coach was trying to explain why his side failed to score during a game they had dominated. The expected difference to the 0-0 draw at Everton was the much-anticipated return of Alexander Isak. Newcastle failed to score from open play during his three game injury absence, and if wasn’t for a) Jacob Murphy unintentionally blocking an Isak shot which appeared destined to ripple the Brighton net, or b) the performance of Bart Verbruggen, in particular his perfect execution of a starfish esque save to deny the striker, it could have been a much different story.