Eddie Howe refuses to use protester as excuse for Newcastle United defeat at Everton

Eddie Howe has refused to use a pitch invader as an excuse for losing to Everton. A 21-year-old male taped himself to the goal post on 49 minutes causing a long delay, with Everton scoring in stoppage time due to the length of time taken to remove him.

Howe said: “I didn’t realise what was happening to start with. Second half we weren’t clinical."

Reflecting on the lack of a potent touch in the box after the break, Howe said: “It wasn’t an attitude problem. I wouldn’t go that far. We just fell away from our high level of performance. I think the unbeaten run we went on together was very high.

“Chelsea, I thought the performance level was high and the second half was probably the worst we’ve played. Yes the players have been in a tough period of games and yes there is probably a little bit of mental fatigue with the amount of away games we’ve had but we can’t use that as an excuse. We have to look at ourselves and find the reasons.