Will Osula made it four goals in his last six Premier League appearances during Newcastle United's win against Brighton.

Eddie Howe made several major calls ahead of Newcastle United’s home win against Brighton and Hove Albion - and perhaps the biggest came with his decision to name £125million attacking duo Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa as substitutes.

Not for the first time in recent weeks, the Magpies boss handed the responsibility of leading his frontline to Will Osula and the former Sheffield United forward repaid Howe’s faith by scoring the first goal of the game and producing a lively display at the top end of the pitch. Goals from Dan Burn and substitute Harvey Barnes helped United claim a 3-1 win after Jack Hinshelwood had cancelled out Osula’s opener to ensure Howe’s men picked up their first home victory since the Denmark Under-21 international scored a dramatic late goal against Manchester United early last month.

Osula received a warm reception from the St James Park faithful when he was replaced by Wissa with just over 20 minutes remaining - and Howe gave an insight into the work that has been put in by his coaching staff to try and bring the best out of the 22-year-old forward.

He said: "We signed him with the view of developing him to try and build him to become a Premier League player because that certainly wasn't the player that we recruited. A lot of work and time has gone into his development. [Assistant managers] Graeme Jones and Jason Tindall have done an incredible job helping his development, analysing his game, feeding back to him. Will has done really well to stay stable, level and commit to that development and see the longer-term plan. It's great to see that when he comes into the team and gets an opportunity, he grabs it."

‘Unorthodox but he plays with great energy’

Osula took one of the opportunities presented to him in the win against the Seagulls as he made the most of some determined wing play from Jacob Murphy to grab the opening goal of the game. The former Norwich City man shook off a challenge from visitors keeper Bart Verbruggen to find Osula with a cross and he made no mistake with a close-range header that racked up his fourth goal in his last six Premier League appearances. The young Dane could and perhaps should have added to his tally throughout the game - but his appearance was enough to draw praise from Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney.

Speaking on BBC Match of the Day, the former England international said of the Magpies forward: “Osula, he’s a little bit unorthodox but he plays with great energy. He’s always willing to run in behind and the one thing defenders don’t like is forwards who are willing to run in behind. It’s a really good header. Murphy does incredible, it’s a really good ball and it’s a good leap and a good header into the back of the net. I think he’s showed signs of being a really good player. He needs to learn and improve as all young players do but I think he is showing really good signs.”

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