Osula project pays off to help ease pressure on Howe

It was a night when winger Anthony Gordon started up front before getting sent off, but Osula was the only specialist centre-forward available at the time.

Alexander Isak was on strike, in a bid to force through a £125m move to Liverpool, and the club were still searching for solutions in the transfer market after failed moves for Joao Pedro, Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko.

Osula's options looked limited following the subsequent arrival of Woltemade and Wissa, and he came close to joining Eintracht Frankfurt on deadline day last summer.

He stayed and has since stepped up with some big goals in recent months.

There was a superb winner in stoppage time against Manchester United, a deadlock breaker at Crystal Palace, an equaliser against Bournemouth and another opener against Brighton.

His latest finish was the easiest, heading a Murphy cross into an empty net after goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen had rushed out of his goal.

Crucially, though, Osula was in the right place at the right time to do so.

Although Newcastle are likely to still be in the market for a striker this summer, Howe wants to hold on to a player with "really rich promise".

"We signed him with the view of developing him to try and build him to become a Premier League player because that certainly wasn't the player that we recruited," he said of Osula, who Newcastle recruited from Sheffield United in 2024.

"A lot of work and time has gone into his development. [Assistant managers] Graeme Jones and Jason Tindall have done an incredible job helping his development, analysing his game, feeding back to him.

"Will has done really well to stay stable, level and commit to that development and see the longer-term plan. It's great to see that when he comes into the team and gets an opportunity, he grabs it."

'The gaffer has taken a lot of stick - that was for him'

Figure caption,

'He's taken a lot of stick' - Burn dedicates Brighton win to Howe

There are sure to be further opportunities in the final weeks of the campaign before a busy summer gets under way.

This week's summit was as much about plotting the future as it was analysing the team's recent form.

Recruitment plans and infrastructure projects were discussed, and an announcement is expected down the line regarding plans for a new state-of-the-art training ground following a major capital investment.

It was just a few days ago Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed it is to withdraw its multi-billion dollar backing of LIV Golf at the end of the season.

But Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor, underlined his commitment to the squad in the dressing room after Saturday's win.

He will fly out of Tyneside knowing these players are very much still fighting for Howe.

In fact, after substitute Harvey Barnes sealed the victory against Brighton in stoppage time, Burn made a beeline for Howe and assistants Tindall and Jones to hug them.

"A lot of the responsibility falls on us," Burn told BBC Final Score. "The gaffer has taken a lot of stick, but that was for him today."