Newcastle United have struggled to find that cutting edge against stubborn defences in recent matches.  We failed to even get a semblance of control during our home game against Fulham, couldn’t break down a Birmingham defence who boast the worst home form in the Championship, and looked extremely fatigued and toothless in attack against Reading.

Taking all of this into consideration, is it time to bring in some new faces in the final eight games of the season to inject a new lease of life into the team?

I feel that if we bring in some of the forgotten men of this season back into the first team picture we could see all of the players raise their game due to increased competition for places and players not being able to rest on their laurels.

Below are a few under the radar squad members who could come in and make a positive impact.

Roland Aarons

Unfortunately, Aarons has been extremely unfortunate with injuries ever since he broke onto the first team scene in blistering fashion when we played Crystal Palace at home during the 2013/14 season. However, when he does play, he is a typical young player; fearless, runs with the ball and wants to take players on.  This will obviously frustrate a lot of people as he will lose the ball quite a lot but, at the moment, we need someone who will run at defences as this is something that Ritchie doesn’t do enough of.

Aarons will run at the fullback and get the ball into the box. He is a young lad who wants to play for the club and shows passion every time he plays. This was highlighted at the final game of last season when the game was already won and Aarons celebrated his goal by jumping into the crowd. He may still be a rough diamond in many aspects, but there’s no doubt that he has talent and will bring a new factor to our game that a lot of teams wouldn’t have looked at this season.

Chancel Mbemba

Now I know that defence isn’t our main issues at the moment as statistically we have the best defence in the league, however, I just feel that Jamaal Lascelles isn’t playing to his full potential.

When the former Forest youngster was at his best earlier this season he was dominating every aerial battle, winning every tackle, making crucial blocks and had the speed to recover any mistakes. However, now he just seems like he isn’t putting 100% effort into his games, especially if you compare him to Ciaran Clark who has been a constant warrior in our team. Therefore, I believe Mbemba could do a steady job for us for at least a few games while Lascelles sits on the bench to learn that every needs to be playing out of his skin to gain promotion and win the title.

Mbemba is a good defender; we saw him put in stand out displays for us many times last season, however he just hasn’t been able to adapt to the style of Championship strikers this season. With him being left out of the team all together for a number of months, I feel like he would be ready to fight for his place and give his all to keep it once the chance was given to him. When Lascelles sees that Mbemba is being picked ahead of him. he may start playing better and then we have 3 quality CBs to chose from.

Sammy Ameobi

The final player may be laughed off by many when they hear his name; however he brings something to the team that nobody else does, he is extremely unpredictable.

Compared to our other wingers Sammy is different in every aspect. Ameobi isn’t the fastest, doesn’t have great technical ability, but he is extremely awkward and can still effortlessly beat his man with skill. When Ameobi came on for his cameo appearance against Rotherham in the 4-0 win he ran at the opposition defence and always wanted the ball.

Sammy gets fans on the edge of their seats as you don’t know what he will do; he could tackle himself, beat a man with great skill, score a great goal or just fall over. He is a player that no team would look at to mark or see him as a threat and therefore he could definitely be seen as an individual who deserves a chance back in the team, although he would be somewhat of a wild card.