Steve Bruce makes admission after Newcastle United's losing start to season

Bruce is again under pressure at the club ahead of tomorrow’s home game against Southampton after two Premier League losses and a Carabao Cup defeat this month.

And United’s head coach desperately wants his team to get off the mark ahead of a two-week international break.

“Look, I’ve been under pressure since I walked into the job just over two years ago,” said Bruce. “Nothing changes. It’s all geared about results. We’re disappointed, but some of the stuff we’ve played, I’ve been very pleased with. Performances have been decent. We didn’t deserve to lose to the cup tie, in my opinion, the other night.

“Unfortunately, if we’re going to be ultra-critical, we didn’t take the chances that came our way. We played well in spells at Villa. But we haven’t got any points on board. With an international break coming up, it would be nice to get up and running.”