Chris Wood went straight into the Newcastle team as expected for the relegation six-pointer against Watford.

In the end, it was a point apiece for both the struggling sides and Wood did not find the net on his first game.

Allan Saint-Maximin opened the scoring with a smart finish after some outstanding footwork and sent St James’ Park wild.

Joao Pedro levelled the scores two minutes from time and the Frenchman delivered his verdict on Wood to the BBC after that disappointment.

Newcastle United v Watford - Premier League
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

RONALDO NEEDS TO STOP WHINING.

“[Chris Wood] can give a lot to Newcastle. He needs more time to know how to play with the players but I think he will help the team. He is a big guy and can score important goals for Newcastle. We really need him to win games.

“We cannot just feel like it’s finished. We know we have a really good quality and what we can do. It’s time to stop talking and to show. We really have to do some things against it because if this keeps going we will not stay in the league. At the moment it is not enough. It’s a good draw for Watford and really bad for Newcastle.”

Eddie Howe also had his say on his new striker, adding: “Chris Wood did well. He competed and gave us a different dynamic. I thought he was a little bit isolated towards the end of the game so we need to look at that.

“I think the players were so desperate to win that they went into a little bit of protection mode and didn’t want to take too many risks.”

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(Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Scoring on his debut would have been a dream start for Wood but in truth he did not get an awful lot of service on his big day.

Newcastle have to get used to how to use him and perhaps the whirlwind few days caught up with him.

But he has the experience to score goals in the top flight, as he showed at Burnley, and that should stand him in good stead as Newcastle look to recover from this disappointment.

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