COUNT ON CALLUM

EDDIE HOWE has insisted Newcastle are not “in a dark place” – as he backs Callum Wilson to fire them into European form.

The Toon chief is facing the most difficult spell of his Tyneside career.

Three 2-0 defeats in a row have seen Newcastle fail to score for more than five hours of play.

Only one win in the league since January has seen Liverpool catch up in the race for fourth place which also involves Tottenham.

The form of Callum Wilson is a big worry. His massive effort of six goals in nine appearances to get into the Englandworld Cup squad has been replaced with a drought and an air-shot against Manchester City last weekend.

Wilson has scored once in 12 games for his club since October.

The problem is Alexander Isak (right) has yet to fully take his chance and find a rhythm in the starting XI, a slow start after a £54million move from Real Sociedad that has been hampered by an early injury.

Howe said: “Callum has an incredible mindset, he has that already. He is pushing himself all the time.

“In your playing career, you are going to have good spells and bad spells but you need that inner belief always that you are the best and I think Callum has got that.

“I’m always in regular communication with my players in the pursuit of excellence.

“It’s not just about lifting someone up if they feel as though they need a lift, it’s about the pursuit of greatness and Callum has that.”

The club has plenty of hope despite the mini-slump in results. After all, they were fighting relegation just last season.

Howe added: “Lots of things are tested behind the scenes on these runs – what is the culture of your group like?what is the culture around the training ground like? It is a good test of that.

So far the players have come up with the right answers.

“General performance has been strong and it is not like we are scratching around thinking we are in a dark place here.

“There is a belief that we can win again and we need to quickly.

“I have never sat here and talked us up in terms of target or top four. I have talked us up in terms of what I believe we can achieve and the quality in our group. “In every season there are difficult periods and patches where you don’t win games that you should.

“That is the time you have to be really strong mentally and know it will change.”