Eddie Howe feels Newcastle United did not provide the type of service that new boy Alexander Isak thrives off.
The Sweden international did not mark his home debut with a goal and missed a one on one with the goalkeeper during the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace. But Howe expects him to get better as the team get used to playing with him.
Howe said: "He'll be disappointed to miss that because he'd back himself to score and I'd certainly back him to score, but he's gone for a certain type of finish - and that's obviously in his game – but he didn't quite execute it right.
"I thought we starved him of the ball a little bit in certain parts of the game. We're still getting used to how he wants to receive the ball and where he needs to go to receive the ball."
Howe was gutted that Isak did not manage an opening strike at St James' Park. He said afterwards: "I really desperately wanted him to try to get on the ball more, especially in the attacking third. He came to life a little bit in the second half, there were certain moments of real quality.
"Look, he's had no training time with us, so he's been thrust right into the action. I think he's done very well, but there's lots of improvement for us as a team to try to serve him."
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Howe felt his team gave everything but the final touch when it mattered. He said: "Yes, very much so. I thought the level of performance was very good today. We created chances in every phase, possession phases, counter-attacks, set-plays.
"The lads were very committed to their performance today, physically very good off the back of a very difficult week, so just really disappointed with the final action. The finish wasn't there today, it was the only thing missing."
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