Diame desperate to find St James’ spark

MO DIAME says Newcastle are running out of excuses.

Rafa Benitez’s home duds have now lost seven out of nine games at St James’ Park this season.

And having previously won three in a row to haul themselves up the table, one point from the last three games has left them hovering just three points above the relegation zone.

Benitez was furious at referee Mike Dean’s decision to red card DeAndre Yedlin and failure to punish Willy Boly for elbowing Ayoze Perez in the face during Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Wolves.

Diame agrees the Magpies were hard done by but feels the time has now come for action rather than words.

“It was a really bad result,” said the straight-talking midfielder, 31. “We can say everything about how we fought and showed a good attitude but we lost and that is disappointing.

“The run of home defeats is bad, we know that. We need points and we need to change that as soon as possible.

“When you lose, there is always something to blame. People will say we worked hard and gave our all but we are left disappointed again.

Absent

“Away from home it is different but at home we should be looking to beat those teams in the bottom half of the table. “Even with 10 men, we have to concentrate more than we did at the end of the game because that is when we conceded the winning goal.” Owner Mike Ashley was absent for the fourth game in a row having previously attended seven successive games. He remains keen to sell the club before the January transfer window opens but believes the onus is on the would-be buyers rather than himself. Four groups are understood to have expressed an interest including a consortium led by ex-Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon.

Ashley will sell to any group who can match his £350m asking price and provide proof of funds but so far none of the parties have fully satisfied his requirements.