Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has made the signing of a forward a priority in the January transfer window after his side were made to pay for missed chances in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Rochdale in the FA Cup third round.
Newcastle took the lead through Miguel Almiron’s first-half goal but were unable to finish off their opponents and substitute Aaron Wilbraham scored a late equaliser for third-tier Rochdale to secure a replay at St James’ Park.
When asked if the club would look to address the lack of goals in the transfer window, Bruce said: “Yes. We’ve had a couple of knock-backs already so we’ll keep working away. It’s very difficult, especially at that end of the pitch, to get something that’s going to make you better. I won’t just be bringing in players for the sake of it, but we’ll see what the next two or three weeks bring.”
It was another difficult game for Newcastle’s record signing Joelinton, who has scored one goal in 22 appearances since his arrival from Hoffenheim.
“He (Joelinton) has had a difficult time but he’s got to stick at it,” Bruce added. “Until two weeks ago Almiron hadn’t scored but now he’s scored two in fairly quick succession.”
Bruce confirmed Almiron pulled up with a groin strain while Yoshinori Muto suffered a hip injury in the second half.
“The loss of Muto and Almiron took the edge off us and we genuinely hope that they’re not too bad, injury-wise,” Bruce added.
