'We didn't' - Eddie Howe reveals what cost Newcastle United against Luton Town

Eddie Howe believes his side's first-half performance cost Newcastle United against Luton Town.

Newcastle lost 1-0 at Kenilworth Road following Andros Townsend's 25th-minute opener. It was the Magpies' fourth consecutive Premier League away defeat, and their sixth in total.

"Very disappointed with the performance today," Howe told NewcastleWorld. "I thought first-half especially we weren't where we needed to be.

"We knew this was going to be a very difficult game, we knew the whole day was going to be tough really because of the game and how Luton play - they're a strong team.

"And also the emotion of the game. And I don't think we dealt with that well."

Howe added: "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.

In terms of home form, Newcastle rank as the second best in the top-flight behind Aston Villa. But on their travels is a huge contrast with only Luton and Sheffield United claiming fewer points.

Asked about the club's away day blues, Howe said: It's a difficult one for me to answer. I've tried to answer it previously. We've spoken about it internally, we know how important our away form is and to be the team we need and want to be, and we have to be consistent both home and away.

"Today's performance epitomised our away form because there were some really good bits but not enough. We didn't compete well enough in the first-half, I thought we were off on our duels and we were reactive rather than proactive. And that cost us the match."