Matt Ritchie has admitted that the players are looking to convince Amanda Staveley to purchase Newcastle United by delivering strong performances on the pitch.

There has been a lot of speculation that financier Staveley is leading the bid to purchaseUnited from current owner Mike Ashley.

Ritchie said of the potential takeover: "I've got to be honest that I've tried to, not ignore it because it's obviously there, but as players we need to continue to work hard and do our stuff out on the pitch and training pitch.

"We can't affect anything that goes on upstairs at the football club. We'll be dictated to what happens, we can have any say or involvement in that, so there's no point in worrying about that.

"We just need to stay focused on what happens on the pitch and hopefully success on the pitch will bring success off the pitch."