Newcastle’s ability to keep clean sheets (4) has been very impressive over the first five games of the new season, but with just three goals scored in that period, Sunday’s 0-0 draw against Bournemouth showed where we must improve.

Only Bruno Guimaraes, Will Osula and Nick Woltemade have found the back of the net so far this season, and we’ve also squandered points at Aston Villa and Leeds by lacking quality in front of goals or failing to create chances.

Wotlemade in particular has shown that, when given the opportunity, he is more than capable of delivering. His winner against Wolves, as well as flashes of quality against Barcelona and Bournemouth are exactly what we need up top.

But Eddie Howe has called upon his team to help the our 6ft 6″ striker thrive in a new-look attack that’s still adapting following Alexander Isak’s sale.

Howe on Woltemade challenge

Sunday’s game at the Vitality Stadium was only Nick Woltemade’s second start in a Newcastle shirt, and just his third appearance overall.

And it was perhaps his most frustrating appearance yet, as he was isolated and restricted to just four touches in the Bournemouth box all game.

A lot of that came down to the lads still adapting to life post-Alexander Isak, seven changes and how isolated the big German sometimes looked up top, but Eddie Howe admits we are still adapting to his style, a new-look attack and life without Alexander Isak

Addressing the issue and the challenge both we and Woltemade now face , Howe commented:

“Just naturally we will be a different team attacking wise without Alex. We will be attacking with a different emphasis. Nick was very effective here with his footwork and link play.

“He sees some lovely passes. We just need to know and get used to him and his style more. We need to get more runners off him, because he’s very good in that respect. I’m hopeful we’re evolving to a different team, hopefully a better team. That is the plan, but it may take a bit of time.

“All centre-forwards to a degree are reliant on their service. Alex wouldn’t have scored a goal for us if we didn’t get up the pitch and get the ball into dangerous areas. We have to do that better as a team.

“But of course Nick’s a goal-getter – his record last year was very strong. It wasn’t a criticism of him today, more the team. We got into some good areas, and areas we should have done better from.”

Wissa return will help

Though it perhaps has been beneficial to Woltemade’s development that he was thrown into the deep end to kickstart his Newcastle career, not having a strike partner alongside him may have hindered him.

Yoane Wissa arrived on deadline day as our £55m Premier League proven striker able to take that initial burden off of Wolteemade’s shoulders, giving us two strikers to make up for the loss of Isak.

The 29-year-old is not due back until after the next international break and is aiming to be back for our trip to Brighton on October 18th as he recovers from a knee issue.

Once fit again, Wissa will add something different to Newcastle’s attack, giving us a potential partner for Woltemade, pace in behind and the movement around the box that was perhaps missing in Sunday’s drab draw.