'The worst' - Eddie Howe makes Newcastle United admission as he explains 3-1 loss to Fulham

Eddie Howe has offered an explanation to Newcastle United's awful 3-1 defeat at Fulham - and admits the squad have "work to do" ahead of pivotal games against Wimbledon and then Man City.

The Magpies opened up in shocking manner at Craven Cottage and then failed to fight back from a 2-0 deficit against Marco Silva's men. They lacked intensity, organisation and bite as Fulham won all of their individual battles on the day.

In trying to explain this defeat, Newcastle boss Howe said: "With the first half we were too reactive. Fulham played well and it was difficult for us. We conceded a really poor first goal and I think whenever you go away from home if you give the opposition some help and a stimulus it is difficult.

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"The crowd are then in the game. That first half was tough. We responded really well in the second half and chased the game effectively until the end. We need to reflect on that and analyse it properly."

Howe was asked if his "big-name" players like Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Kieran Trippier had failed to deliver against the Cottagers. He added: "From my perspective, you analyse everyone fairly and independently. There are no big name stars within the group.

"Everyone is contributing the same effort. You need your players to play well to win games and clearly that wasn't the case today especially the first half. We have work to do."

Newcastle have ridden their luck in the first four matches before coming unstuck in game five. The head coach added: "Today was the worst we have played especially in that first half. The second half was much better.

"In the other games we have not been perfect because we had solidity and resilience. Defensively was not good enough. We will take it on the chin. We know that, we will go away to do the work to put it right."

When asked about Bruno's apology to the supporters at the final whistle, after a rare mistake, Howe said: "I didn't see that. We take it together. There is never an individual we look at, we win and lose together and today is a painful one to take."