Former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey has launched a scathing attack on the current players.

The Magpies have been dragged into the Premier League relegation battle after winning just two league games since January and Howey feels the majority of Magpies players have been nowhere near good enough.

Tim Krul, Daryl Janmaat, Jack Colback and Ayoze Perez were the only players to escape Howey's criticism as the Toon get set for a crucial set of three fixtures to try and avoid the drop.

"The rest of the lads who have played the majority of games this season should be disgusted with themselves," he said.

"Hopefully they have sat down and pointed the finger and said some home truths. If that's the case, it's time to draw a line under it and move on.

"The performances have not been good enough. You could see by the body language of the players against Leicester that they were a beaten team. Too many of them are low on confidence and not playing well.

"It's difficult to stop the rot because it's infested in there at the moment. Fabricio Coloccini has come out and written a letter to the fans saying there has been clear the air talks and there were rumours of players going face-to-face with each other, grabbing each other's throats.

"We don't know whether that's rumour or not but, for me personally, I hope it's true. At least one of them cares."