Laughing stock striker to midfield maestro: Joelinton the heartbeat of resurgent Newcastle

When Newcastle United's players trudged off the pitch at the end of their 1-1 draw with fellow Premier League strugglers Watford in January, there was an air of despondency hanging over St James' Park.

A late leveller from Joao Pedro had denied Eddie Howe's team only their second victory of the season leaving Newcastle 19th in the table, one point and one place ahead of bottom club Burnley, who had three games in hand.

“We've damaged ourselves to a point ,” said Howe, whose team had been knocked out of the FA Cup by third-tier Cambridge a week earlier. “I just hope it doesn't leave mental scars for the players.”

Fast forward less than two months, and a very different picture has emerged for the Tyneside club after a run of results that has lifted them up to 14th, seven points clear of the relegation zone.

Only Liverpool (22) and Manchester City (19) have secured more points than the Magpies' 17 since the turn of the year and Newcastle have not lost a league game since their 4-0 home thrashing by reigning champions City on December 19.

The black and whites are unbeaten in the first seven games of the calendar year for the first time since 2004, when Bobby Robson was in charge and the club's fifth-place finish, and subsequent failure to seal a Champions League spot, would ultimately lead to their manager being sacked months later.

Little did fans know at the time but Newcastle would only finish as high as fifth once in the 15 top-flight seasons of mid-table mediocrity and relegation battles that have followed.

With a drop down to the second tier looking more likely than not, the club's Saudi Arabia-backed consortium bankrolled a busy month of transfer-window action with Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan