LuaLua says youth should be given its chance

Newcastle striker Lomana LuaLua has taken a swipe at the club's senior players as the shock waves following the shock FA Cup exit at Wolves continue to vibrate.

The Congo international has urged manager Sir Bobby Robson to apply some pressure on the Toon's established stars by putting his faith in the club's younger players.

LuaLua insists the fringe players at St James' Park are desperate to prove their worth, even if it is at the expense of dropping some of the Magpies' big names.

I think I deserve a chance now, as do many of the lads on the fringes of the team Lomana LuaLua

His comments come on the heels of a similar attack by Alan Shearer on his team-mates.

LuaLua said: "I think I deserve a chance now, as do many of the lads on the fringes of the team.

"Although some people might have the idea that those of us not in the team like sitting on the bench and getting paid good money, nothing could be further from the truth.

"I'm not in this for the money, I want to play for the first team and show what I can do on a regular basis," LuaLua told the Daily Express newspaper.

Bobby Robson has plenty of food for thought

LuaLua also questioned whether Newcastle's poor away form was down to lack of effort from some of his colleauges.

Newcastle have won just twice away from St James Park, where they have won 10 of their 11 Premiership matches.

LuaLua said: "When we play at home we have 52,000 supporters backing us and if there are any players not putting in the work rate the fans soon let them know.

"When we are on our travels there are not so many of our supporters present and some players might think they can get away with it.

"That's something we've got to address because you only need a couple of broken links in the chain and the whole system can break down.

"Now we've got to put the Wolves game behind us."

Robson and Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd held a meeting on Tuesday to try and establish what went wrong at Molineux.

High on the list of Newcastle's concerns is their defensive frailty which may prompt a �4m bid for Marseille central defender Daniel van Buyten.