Jaissle doubling down on 'brave journey'

Matthias Jaissle shook his head for emphasis. "No, no, no," the Newcastle United head coach repeated in his news conference. "Absolutely the wrong approach." Jaissle had just been asked if he was tempted to switch systems a few days after Newcastle's bruising 4-1 defeat at Leeds United . It was a night when Newcastle were bullied defensively, overrun in the middle of the park and a little unimaginative going forward as they repeatedly went long. Rather than fixating on his 4-2-3-1 formation, though, Jaissle felt it was his meek side's failure to "live the principles" which proved costly at Elland Road. Jaissle, like predecessor Eddie Howe, has a number of non-negotiables, including being intense, physical and competitive in every duel. Yet Newcastle alarmingly lost 56% of their individual battles against Leeds in the first half as the hosts raced into a 3-0 lead. It was Newcastle's first loss of the season, but Jaissle's team can ill-afford a similar start when in-form Hull City visit St James' Park on Saturday. Newcastle are set to be without Dan Burn, Amar Dedic, Nico Gonzalez, Joelinton, Jacob Ramsey, Anthony Elanga and William Osula. A particularly youthful side could line up as a result, with 18-year-old Sean Steur in line to partner 20-year-old Lewis Miley in midfield. "I heard also from a pundit why I was playing with such young players," he said. "Because we have only young players in the squad. "JJ [Ramsey] is injured as well, so we trust them and this is our approach. "As I said four weeks, five weeks ago, it's a brave journey the club is going on and I'm fully committed in that. "So now, if there is one setback, we shouldn't delete our journey or our vision."