Jacob Murphy reveals the 'style' Newcastle United want to play this season

That’s the view of Jacob Murphy ahead of tomorrow’s sixth and final pre-season friendly against newly-promoted Norwich City, his former club, at St James’s Park.

Steve Bruce’s side’s recovered from a difficult few months, which included an 11-game run without a win in all competitions, to finish 12th in the Premier League last season.

Newcastle’s late-season form was driven by the goalscoring exploits of on-loan Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock, who head coach Bruce hopes to re-sign in the summer transfer window.

However, as it stands, the club is yet to make a signing in the window – and fans are concerned ahead of the new campaign.

“We finished the last 11 games strongly,” said Murphy, who signed a new deal at the club this summer. “The last 11 games was top-six form, there or thereabouts.

“You know, we want to put in those kind of performances from the start, and see where we end up. We played well in those 11 games.

“We had a bad middle and a good start. If we can sort out that middle part of the season, then, you know, it’s not going to be doom and gloom.”

Bruce appointed Graeme Jones as his assistant in late January following a dismal couple of months, and the coach helped change the way the team played.

Jones – who was on Gareth Southgate’s England coaching staff at Euro 2020 – rejoined the squad last week after taking a short break following the tournament’s conclusion.

Asked what the team needed to do differently this season, 26-year-old Murphy said: “It’s getting that consistency, and you can see the style we’re now trying to implement, playing out from the back, working the ball through the thirds. We want to add that to our strong, attacking game.

“It’s a process, piece by piece. If we can put them together, then we should be putting in really strong performances from the start.”

Murphy, signed from Norwich four years ago, is set to start the season as the club’s right wing-back. Javier Manquillo is yet to feature in pre-season, though he was pictured in training this week.

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