Newcastle United suffered a shock FA Cup 2-1 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
The Magpies, led by English manager Eddie Howe, named a relatively changed side to face The Owls at Hillsborough and although the team’s lineup came as no surprise, it did contribute to the Geordies’ early exit from the competition.
Having failed to win the FA Cup since 1955, the Magpies’ barren run in England’s most prestigious cup competition goes on, and former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore believes last weekend’s result will go down as a ‘missed opportunity’.
“Eddie Howe changed his team up and I do understand why,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview.
“They’re not overly blessed with quality in depth and they’re obviously flying in the league, so he had no choice but to make changes, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out.
“Sadly though, going on a deep run in the FA Cup, or perhaps even winning it, is not something the team is going to be able to do this season. It’ll go down as a missed opportunity.”
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Going on to say how important it is to keep on winning games, Collymore admitted that although fans will not feel anger towards Howe for his changed team selection, the side’s loss of momentum could lead to bigger problems.
“Momentum is everything in football – it’s so important,” the ex-Premier League star added.
“No fan in their right mind is going to criticise Howe for his selection against Sheffield Wednesday, and rightly so, but if this latest defeat then becomes part of a bigger and worse run, it’ll feel more significant than it perhaps does right now.
“We’ll see how it plays out though because I expect him to go stronger against Leicester City in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday and then, like Villa, they also have a run of very winnable games in the Premier League against Fulham, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Bournemouth.”
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