EDDIE HOWE has criticised the Newcastle United players that failed to acknowledge the club’s fans in the wake of yesterday’s FA Cup humiliation at the hands of Cambridge United – and confirmed he wants his side to be willing to front up when they underperform.

While a handful of players remained on the pitch to applaud the home supporters after the final whistle blew yesterday, a large section of the squad went straight down the tunnel to the dressing room.

New signing Kieran Trippier could be seen signalling to some of his team-mates to remain on the pitch, but Allan Saint-Maximin went straight off without acknowledging the home supporters who helped swell the attendance to more than 50,000.

Saint-Maximin was not the only player to leave the field as quickly as possible, and Howe admits he was disappointed to see members of his squad failing to show their appreciation of the home support.

Howe said: “We have a way of working, and my personal opinion is we should always appreciate the fans and thank them for coming, thank them for supporting the team.

“Sometimes, that’s very difficult to do when you haven’t had a positive result, and some players probably want to immediately just leave that situation. But we encourage them to recognise the supporters.

“Sometimes, that’s the most important time to do it, when the result hasn’t been good we have to stand up, take the criticism, but still acknowledge the support of people who have paid big money to come and watch us.

“I’ll never want to run from that moment, I don’t think that’s right. From my perspective especially, you have to be brave enough to front it up, even if you’re aware you potentially might be criticised for that. I’d still much rather it that way than not being seen.”