Fizzy Pop Cup Is Bad For Newcastle's Health

Nobody wants to lose a game, but this is probably the best outcome, all things considered, and at least it gave Peterborough's fans something to remember!

Newcastle's single most pressing priority this season is to bounce straight back into the Premier League. Promotion is the be all and end all. End of story.

If they don't manage to do that the financial problems of the summer will not only start again, they will be considerably worse because every single high earner in the squad will be shipped out.

Newcastle may not have played well at times this season - in fact I thought they were poor against both Blackpool and Plymouth last week - but they still have individual players who, at this level, are going to be match winners. That is why they are second in the table without a permanent manager.

Some of their football has been slack and sloppy. They lack creativity and pace, but they still have some talented players in the team who are too good for the Championship.

They need to get back into the top flight while they are still able to hold on to them because the longer you are stuck in the second tier the harder it is to get out of - unless you are going to follow the likes of Nottingham Forest, Charlton, Norwich, Leeds United, Leicester City and Southampton into Coca Cola League One that is!

However, what Tuesday night's defeat at Peterborough also highlighted is the fragile nature of the Magpies first team squad. Indeed, in making so many changes was nice guy Hughton also trying to make a potent point to Mike Ashley?

Underneath a group of maybe 15 or 16 players there are a load of kids who are simply not ready for this level of football. In fact, some of them probably never will be.

In isolation, as cover in one off games, they might - and I repeat - might be able to do a job in the league, but if Newcastle pick up a load of suspensions and injuries they are screwed.

They have already picked up two red cards - Danny Guthrie's sending off at London Road coming a little over a week after Alan Smith got his at Cardiff - and they are going to start losing players who have picked up five yellow cards soon enough.

That will expose the limitations they have and Hughton still needs to bring in another couple of players on loan. A centre forward and a left midfielder with pace are vital if the good start to the promotion campaign is going to be maintained.