Newcastle United's weak spot was exposed by AFC Bournemouth during the 4-1 hammering at St James' Park - according to Cherries star Antoine Semenyo.

The Ghana international was one of the stars of the show for the Cherries with the visitors utilising a press in midfield, with American international Tyler Adams and Scotsman Ryan Christie pulling the strings. Semenyo said that Bournemouth players had been briefed by Andoni Iraola on a weakness in Newcastle's system with Martin Dubravka's passing to defenders pinpointed by the Cherries.

Semenyo told reporters: "It was a crazy performance from us. We just knew we needed to get the press right and if we did we'd get opportunities and as you saw from a couple of the goals we got the press right and got the three points.

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"We knew they had moments when they'd keep it at the back and we wanted to catch out the back four. As soon as the goalkeeper passed to the centre back that was our trigger to go and it worked out perfectly."

Justin Kluivert's hat-trick did most of the damage for Newcastle but this could have been a heavier scoreline. It took Bournemouth on to an 11-game unbeaten run.

Semenyo said: "It is all mindset. Our mindset is just so strong, we are mentally tough. we go through all these tough moments with injuries but we know collectively we can do it and nobody can tell us differently.

"We are taking it game by game and not putting any pressure on ourselves."