Alan Shearer has hinted that the international commitments of Newcastle United’s midfielders were to blame for their defeat away at Brighton on Saturday.

The Magpies went down 2-1 at the Amex Stadium, with goals in either half from Danny Welbeck rendering Nick Woltemade’s strike nothing more than a consolation.

Eddie Howe’s side outshot Brighton 16-13 to the tune of 1.45-0.91 xG (FotMob). Nevertheless, it was a tired performance from Newcastle, who looked a yard off the pace on the South

Alan Shearer blasts Newcastle midfield performance vs Brighton

Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali have formed an incredible midfield for Newcastle United, often proving the driving force behind some of their biggest results over the last 12 months.

However, none of the trio managed the full 90 minutes, with Joelinton withdrawn at half-time, Tonali in the 70th minute, and Guimaraes in the 86th minute.

That was a clear indicator of the overall performance of the Newcastle midfield, with Brighton able to cut through them and pick gaps at ease to create dangerous chances – including the one that led to Welbeck’s late winner.

Analysing the match for BBC Match of the Day, Shearer gave a less than glowing appraisal of Howe’s engine room.

“I thought Brighton were the better team. Newcastle, I thought, were too easy to play through at times, Brighton found that extra man in front of the back four,” Newcastle record goalscorer Shearer said.

“Newcastle’s midfield covered 6km less ground than Brighton’s out of possession, and that tells you [what you need to know]. Whether it was Joelinton or Bruno [Guimaraes] travelling back from playing Japan and South Korea [with Brazil], or [Sandro] Tonali playing for Italy, but it was unusual for Newcastle. The first goals they’ve conceded away from home.”

Howe was asked after the match why he decided to start his Brazilian midfield duo after their recent travel demands, insisting their potential replacements – Lewis Miley and Jacob Ramsey – aren’t completely fit either.

“If you are talking about Joelinton and Bruno – they would be the two. Lewis Miley had not trained for two weeks, and Jacob Ramsey is back from a long layoff,” the Magpies boss said. “So they are difficult players to bring in because they are arguably not 100% match fit either. So we made the decision to go with the two lads who have done the travelling.

“Bruno had a much better second half than he did first, so maybe that is not just fatigue. We were much better with the changes in the second half. It was a much brighter second half display.”

What next for Newcastle United?

Saturday’s defeat leaves Newcastle 12th in the Premier League table with just two wins and nine points on the board after eight matches.

Attention turns back to the Champions League as Portuguese giants Benfica come to town in the first of three consecutive home matches, followed by Fulham in the Premier League and Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup