Alexander Isak makes honest Newcastle United admission after comeback

Alexander Isak made his long-awaited Newcastle United comeback for the shock FA Cup third round exit to Sheffield Wednesday.

The Magpies’ £60million club-record signing played the opening 45 minutes of the 2-1 defeat at Hillsborough in his first appearance since September.

Isak scored two goals in his opening three games after joining from Real Sociedad last summer but has spent the last three months on the sidelines due to a thigh injury.

He had two chances to score in the first-half with Owls goalkeeper Cameron Dawson first keeping out his close-range header and then a shot from inside the box.

But the more appearances Isak makes in the coming months, the more he’ll back himself to put those opportunities away in the near future.

Isak said: “I think the sharpness will help. These are chances I’d usually score.

“That is football, today the ball wouldn’t go in. Hopefully I will get more chances on Tuesday against Leicester.”

Despite exiting the FA Cup to League One opposition for the second successive season, there’s still a lot to be hopeful about at Newcastle.

Howe’s side currently sit third in the Premier League table and have a Carabao Cup quarter-final clash against Leicester City to look forward to on Tuesday night.

Asked about the prospect of qualifying for next season’s Champions League, Isak said: “That would be great, that would be incredible for the club. That is too far ahead to look at.

“We must go one game at a time and then go for the three points each week, we will see how it looks as we get closer to the end.”

He added: “We all want to go as far as possible and I think the club’s vision is definitely to be at that level.”