Bruce brushes off concerns of a lack of morale at Newcastle

Steve Bruce says he has no concerns about morale at Newcastle United.

Bruce’s side, beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace on Saturday, have failed to score in their last three Premier League games.

And fans – who chanted “attack, attack, attack” at Selhurst Park – are worried that the club is in danger of getting dragged into a relegation fight.

Bruce was asked about morale after the Palace game, which was decided by a first-half strike from former United defender Patrick van Aanholt.

“The one thing they didn’t do was give it up,” said Bruce. “They kept going until the end. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem with the group of players I’ve got. But you have to cause more of a threat, and be more of a goal threat, to win a match in the Premier League. In the last two or three games, we’ve found it very difficult.”

The defeat followed a 4-0 loss away to Arsenal, and Bruce had only made one enforced change in the capital.

Bruce, however, has pledged to “try something different” in Saturday’s home game against Burnley.

“I was pleased with us first half (against Arsenal), that’s why I sent the same team out,” said Bruce, who is still without Jonjo Shelvey and Andy Carroll. “But first half, even with lion’s share of the possession, we didn’t do enough with it. We didn’t cause enough problems in the final third. That’s what we’ve got to try and address.”

Meanwhile, Valentino Lazaro was Newcastle United’s “best player” at Selhurst Park, according to Bruce.

Lazaro, signed on loan from Inter Milan last month, was sent off late in the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace for bringing down Wilfried Zaha.

The winger – who was fielded as a right wing-back in the club’s last two games – will miss Saturday’s home game against Burnley through suspension.

Bruce felt that Lazaro wasn’t given enough of the ball on the right. He said:

“I thought he was our best player. I thought he was terrific. I thought he was terrific against Zaha. We ignored him so much in the final third. We didn’t feed him enough of the ball to show that quality he’s got.”

Asked about the dismissal, United’s head coach said: “He’s disappointed. Ten seconds to go, does the referee need to send him off? Bit of common sense, maybe?”