Alan Shearer slams Newcastle United after Luton Town defeat with 17-word verdict

Alan Shearer slammed Newcastle United for being "second best" during their 1-0 defeat to Luton Town on Saturday afternoon.

Former Magpies winger Andros Townsend scored the only goal of the game in the 25th minute as the Hatters picked up only their third Premier League win and kept their first clean sheet of the season.

The result saw United suffer their fourth consecutive away defeat in the league as they dropped to seventh in the table. And Shearer was left unimpressed by Newcastle's display.

"The Toon second best in all areas today," said Shearer. Intensity. Desire. Physicality.Well done Luton. Deserved the points."

When asked if he felt Luton's players showed more desire than his own, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: "I think I've got to choose my words carefully.

"We have an incredible group and I was disappointed with the first half performance, I thought we needed more, we needed more emotion in our performance, more energy in our performance.

"I'm not going to say any more than that really but I think the players felt that as well. We were well aware we were below our levels but second half was a lot better and we couldn't force the goal we needed and the mistake in the first half has cost us the match."

Newcastle boast the fourth worst away record in the Premier League with only Luton and Sheffield United picking up fewer points. In contrast, Howe's men sit second on home record - bettered only by Aston Villa.