Eddie Howe showed his frustration following Newcastle’s stalemate against Wolves, with the Magpies unable to find the net against the Premier League’s bottom side.
The encounter at Molineux proved particularly disappointing for the visitors, who managed not a single effort on target during the opening 45 minutes.
Wolves themselves threatened through Mateus Mane and Yerson Mosquera, forcing Nick Pope into action to preserve parity.
The goalless outcome underlined the ongoing difficulties Howe’s men face when travelling away from St James’ Park, with six of 11 Premier League matches on the road having yielded no goals whatsoever for the Magpies this campaign.
The second half at Molineux saw Howe’s side finally apply some pressure, though it came far too late to salvage three points.
Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa was eventually called into action, producing a crucial double stop to deny both Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton as Newcastle belatedly pushed forward.
The late flurry proved insufficient to break the deadlock.
Howe said: “We needed to do more in attack. I expected us to do better and create more. We attacked better the longer the game went on, substitutions helped and some good openings towards the end, but a frustrating day.”
Eddie Howe showed his frustration following Newcastle’s stalemate against Wolves
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He added: “The expectation was on us to create and we needed to do it better. Too many balls going across the front of their goal with not enough black and white shirts in the box, so that was a disappointment for us.
“Football is such a strange game. We score four against Leeds and look free scoring, attack and create at any moment but today was a different game and we struggled.
“I don’t think our attacking output today was good enough. We have to find a way to score more goals on the road.”
Nick Woltemade had a frustrating day in front of goal before being taken off in the second period and has now scored just three times in his last 14 league matches.
Newcastle United drew to Wolves at Molineux this afternoon
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GETTYHowe did not want to pin the blame of the attacking failures on the Germany striker or Yoane Wissa though.
He added: “It’s not just about those two players, it’s about the whole team. We didn’t have enough goalmouth action. We know there’s loads of different sources for goals.
“I was disappointed with our set-plays today. There are a couple of good moments in there but not enough with the opportunities we had.
“I still think the focus has to be on our ability to break it down and we didn’t do it well enough.”
Kieran Trippier also went close with a free-kick that struck the side netting | GETTYThe goalless draw meant Wolves picked up their second-successive clean sheet at home and stretched their unbeaten run to five matches across all competitions.
Manager Rob Edwards said: “I’m really pleased with that, it’s another step forward and a clean sheet against a top team. We are looking solid, there is no doubt about that.
“It’s good now we have a couple of difficult decisions because the form is good. Earlier there was a few people that were struggling for confidence and belief so had difficult decisions the other way, it’s a bit different now.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful but I do feel like we are solid, resilient and more belief there. We are certainly trending in the right direction.”
