EDDIE HOWE has defended his decision to start Callum Wilson in today’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester United, but admitted Alexander Isak made a positive difference after leaving the bench for the second half.

Wilson got the nod to lead the line at Wembley despite his somewhat underwhelming form since the turn of the year, but was unable to ask any serious questions of the Manchester United defence.

The England international has now scored just one goal in his last 15 matches for club and country, and has not looked especially sharp since returning from the World Cup finals in Qatar.

Isak spent the first half of today’s game on the substitutes’ bench, but Howe insists he made the right call to start with Wilson.

Howe said: “It was a really tough one. They're two immensely talented players, but I had to pick one. Callum, on his last start, scored and played very well against West Ham, so that sort of swayed my decision.

“But Alex today, when he came on, was electric, I thought he did really well and he and Callum played well together in that second half.”

Howe was happy with the performance of Loris Karius, with the debutant goalkeeper making three excellent saves as he made his first competitive appearance for anyone for two years.

The Newcastle boss said: “I think he did really well. His all-round demeanour was good, his distribution was good.

“He made some great saves especially when we were chasing the game - he was always going to have to play well in that second half because we were leaving grass behind our back-line. He can be really proud of his efforts today.”