Eddie Howe defends 'outstanding' Newcastle United star & answers burning question

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has defended Dan Burn and his decision to keep the left-back on the pitch for as long as he did.

The Blyth-born defender endured a tough afternoon at St James' Park as Luton Town targeted United's left side. Burn struggled to deal with Chiedozie Ogbene in particular and brought the winger down for a penalty in 57th minute.

Sean Longstaff scored twice in the first-half but both goals were quickly cancelled out by Gabriel Osho and Ross Barkley. Morris then put Luton ahead from the penalty spot before Elijah Adebayo made it 4-2.

Only then was Burn replaced after fans chanted for Tino Livramento to come on. He was introduced alongside Harvey Barnes as United fought back to rescue a point. Kieran Trippier and Harvey Barnes were on the scoresheet.

Asked about Burn, Howe said: "Dan, for me, has been absolutely outstanding since arriving at the football club and he'll play a huge part in a brilliant season last year with an excellent defensive record.

"I thought he was magnificent at Aston Villa and a big part of why we played so well. Tino is an outstanding player and will no doubt have a huge bearing on our future."

Why didn't Howe bring Livramento on earlier? "When you're in my shoes you have more than one thing to focus on so it's never that clear cut," replied Howe.

"Luton are a really big team, we knew set plays would be a huge threat so we had to cover that as well. It's not just one discipline. We conceded the first goal from a set play.

"They were a threat down that right-hand side and we didn't deal with it well enough. It's certainly something for us to analyse and reflect on. But defensively all day we were never totally secure."

Howe added: "Difficult because there was a lots of good and lots of bad. The way we started the game I thought it could be a memorable football game for us but credit to Luton, they responded really well and made it difficult for us.

"I thought it was a very open game, two teams going at each other - a great game for the neutral but probably not so much if you're associated to us because I think there was a huge determination for us to win today. We're disappointed not to.