Hughton certain recent woes will strengthen Newcastle’s resolve

Newcastle United boss Chris Hughton expects recent problems, both on and off the pitch, will strengthen the squad moving forward.

The Toon have lost two of their past three and face falling into the drop zone if they lose at West Ham this weekend and to add to that, Hughton’s number two Colin Calderwood left for Hibernian and young striker Andy Carroll was bailed for alleged assault on his ex-girlfriend.

But Hughton was using the ‘what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger’ approach as the Magpies prepare for an important run of matches.

“These are testing times,” he said. “But these are the times which will make us stronger as a team.

“We’ve done that before and there’s no reason why we can’t do that again.

“These are the same group of players who have already been through many ups and downs here.

“We’ve always been aware we will lose more games this season than last and we’ve spoken to them about dealing with defeat.

“It’s important they stay strong through the difficult times and so far they’ve been able to do that.”

 
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