Lewis Hall makes Newcastle United dressing room admission on tactical malfunction

Lewis Hall has pinpointed one of the key concerns within the Newcastle United dressing room after the 2-0 loss against West Ham.

The England international has been one of the stars for the Magpies this term and has rightly won Three Lions recognition. Hall brings so much to the game going forward up the field but on Monday the criticism was Newcastle's defence clocked off at key times.

Now Hall has vowed to get the balance exactly right going into the trip to Crystal Palace at the weekend. Hall said: "We know we can score goals. This season, we've defended better than we've attacked. But last season, we attacked better than we defended. It's about doing both."

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Newcastle go into the crunch clash against Palace sitting in 10th place, their lowest since March last season. Given Newcastle could have climbed into a European place, the 2-0 reverse against West Ham left Hall frustrated.

Hall reflected on game with BBC Sport: "It's a really difficult one to take. It was a massive game for us. We'd have been two points off second if we won. It was a frustrating game for us. We had a lot of the ball. When you are on top, you have to find a way to put the ball in the net, which we didn't."

Head coach Eddie Howe also underlined the need to tighten up at the back after Newcastle gifted West Ham the lead. He said: "We conceded two disappointing goals. The first goal was a really disappointing one to give away for us.

"We're 10 minutes into the game, had started really well, on the front foot, looked like we could create at any time, and it just changed the dynamic of West Ham's feeling and our feeling, so we'll kick ourselves with that one in particular.

"I thought we responded well though and kept going, kept attacking, created chances. I think when they score the second goal, we lose our way a little bit and become a bit desperate in some of our attacking play and looked a bit disjointed at the end."