Eddie Howe has defended the contribution of striker Alexander Isak and revealed he is carrying a knee problem, with Newcastle’s club-record signing having scored in only one of his last 12 matches.

The £63million frontman netted twice on the opening day versus Aston Villa, but his previous goals were in a 6-1 victory over Spurs in April.

Howe said: ‘Sometimes stats can be a little bit misleading. Look at his last performance against Milan (0-0 draw on Tuesday) and there was so much good from him. He linked play really well for us. But as a team we didn’t really click in the final third. That was pretty obvious.

Isak has been used from the left on occasion and has looked dangerous, with Callum Wilson taking the role of central striker. Is that something Howe could again explore?

Eddie Howe has defended the contribution of Newcastle striker Alexander Isak

Isak has scored once in 12 games but Howe revealed that he is carrying a knee problem

Read Related Also: Jude Bellingham ‘leaves Real Madrid training early due to stomach problems’ putting doubts over whether the England superstar will feature in this weekend’s crunch LaLiga derby against Atletico Madrid

At times Isak has been used on the left wing, with Callum Wilson deployed as the central striker

‘We will always look at it, and Alex did go to the left when Callum came on against Milan,’ said the head coach, whose side travel to Sheffield United on Sunday afternoon.

‘Alex can play that position really well and sometimes it’s nice to rotate him in running during a game because he has that ability to drift left. If he’s gone quiet in a game for a period of time, then it might spark him to life in another area.

‘We will look at it, but we always have to pick what is best for the team, not the individuals. Sometimes you can put your best players into the team but the team doesn’t function as well. We love both players and will always try to make the best call for the team.’