EDDIE HOWE admits that Newcastle United’s transfer window was “not perfect” – with the club having been unable to recruit a midfield replacement for Jonjo Shelvey.

Newcastle made two signings in January, bringing in Anthony Gordon in a £45m move from Everton and Harrison Ashby in a £3m switch from West Ham.

However, with Shelvey having made a deadline-day switch to Nottingham Forest, the Magpies find themselves light in central midfield.

To exacerbate the issue, Bruno Guimaraes will now be suspended for the next three matches following his sending off in this evening’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win over Southampton.

Howe said: “No window is perfect, and I don’t think this window has been perfect for us. That’s just the reality of the situation.

“I think we’ve signed two really talented young players, and I’m really pleased with those signings. We were disappointed to lose Chris Wood and Jonjo Shelvey, but you have to respect players’ wishes as well and it’s not always about what the club wants.

“You have to look at things from a position of everybody’s needs and wants. We’re maybe light in a couple of areas, but we do have a lot of quality within the squad.”

Ashby joined from West Ham earlier today, with Howe revealing an injury to Javier Manquillo had made the Magpies even more determined to land the right-back.

He said: “He’s definitely one for the future, but he’s a talented young player. We feel he has areas to improve, as all young players do, but I think he has good character.

“He’s got really good ability, really good physical attributes and technical attributes.

“Javier Manquillo picked up an injury in training so he’ll be missing for three to four weeks, so it’s an area we were light in, in numbers, so bringing Harrison in, for good value in the market for current prices, was a good deal all round for us.”