Newcastle United fixture pile up eased amid Eddie Howe 'surprise' at Premier League decision

Eddie Howe and his team had been facing four fixture in 11 days this month following the rearrangement of postponed games away to Southampton and Everton.

However, Palace’s 2-1 win over Stoke City last night means that they will be in FA Cup action later this month – and their March 20 visit to St James's Park, the last game of that run of fixtures, has been postponed.

Howe had told of his “surprise” at the dates for the rearrangement games last week. United’s head coach said: “Not ideal, no doubt about that. We were, and I’ve got to choose my words carefully, surprised when we saw the fixture congestion that we had, especially with the amount of away games in a very short period of time.”

Meanwhile, 18th-placed Burnley were beaten 2-0 at last night in what was their game in hand over Newcastle.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Newcastle United coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription; sign up here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor