NEWCASTLE UNITED new-boy Valentino Lazaro admits things can only get better after the delight of a first start for his new club ended in a heavy defeat.

The Magpies are seven points clear of the relegation zone after a 4-0 loss at Arsenal that ended a run of eight matches without losing. In typical Newcastle fashion there has been a fall-out from Sunday’s embarrassing scoreline, with four of Steve Bruce’s squad involved in a spat with disappointed supporters on the train home.

It has emerged that Nabil Bentaleb, Allan Saint-Maximim, Danny Rose and Christian Atsu all took up an option to head back to the North-East by rail rather than fly. That was because of a bumpy journey down ahead of the Emirates game and the storm across the UK.

But angry Newcastle supporters were also on the train and one disgruntled fan told them what he thought of the performance, leading to an exchange of views being filmed. Newcastle insist the players have done nothing wrong so will not be issuing any punishments.

They were all back in training on Monday after returning from Kings Cross, and it is understood that train crew intervened by asking the fan to leave the area where the Newcastle quartet were.

Emotions were running high after suffering the heavy defeat to the Gunners, but sources close to the club have played down suggestions there was a dressing room inquest like there was at Leicester City earlier in the season.

Bruce is keen for Newcastle to quickly bounce back by returning to London and delivering an improved result at Crystal Palace this Saturday.

Lazaro will be hoping for a better turn of events on his third appearance, having suffered the big loss on his full debut following his loan move from Inter Milan during the January transfer window.

“I think it was a really good first half from us at Arsenal,” said Lazaro. “We showed that we came here with the desire to take points and maybe win. We came out in the second half and within two minutes lost our game, and we have to learn from that.

“Of course, 4-0 is a bit harsh, but if it’s 2-0, 3-0 or 4-0, it’s a loss that we have to take on our shoulders. We messed up second half. We’ve got to keep our heads up and learn from that, and hopefully bounce back.

“We showed confidence. We had a lot of chances where we could have scored ourselves. The game was open. They needed two quick goals, and everybody knows they have world-class players. They got confidence to really show that. We just have to learn from that.”

Lazaro has started his first spell in English football after moving from Serie A so he knows it could take time to adjust.

The 23-year-old, from Austria, was satisfied with his own performance at the Emirates, even if it got tougher as the minutes ticked by to give him an early baptism of fire to the Premier League.

“The first half I felt very good and confident on the pitch,” said Lazaro. “I had a lot of ways forward, and also with the set-pieces. We had some chances to score. For my first start, I was really happy with the first half.

“Second half, after those two quick goals, we fell apart. Unfortunately, for the second goal, Nicola Pepe gets the ball between my feet, and that was very unlucky. Unfortunately, after that, the whole team fell apart. We have to bounce back from those mentally tough situations.”

Newcastle had stood firm and looked dangerous until Pepe followed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opener. Arsenal then added two more in injury time to wrap up the points courtesy of Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette’s strikes.

Lazaro was off the pitch by the time the last two goals went in having been asked to play right wing-back, a position he is likely to be asked to play more under Bruce.

The Inter man said: “I’m adjusting to that. You can see that I’m a winger, and my strengths are in attack.”