Martin Keown says who he believes could be a key figure for Newcastle United's Champions League chances
Newcastle United's Champions League exploits have got the pundits buzzing as the Magpies coasted into the knockout stages of the competition last night.
Newcastle joined the rest of the Premier League's entrants in progressing to the knockout phase of the Champions League after seeing off Qarabag in the play-off.
UK pundits are absolutely convinced that an English side will win the competition this season, and it is a fair shout, but the fact that Newcastle are still being counted amongst those who they believe can go all the way is a testament to how well Newcastle have played in the competition this season.
If you've been watching Newcastle closely all season, you may not be as convinced as some are, especially given the injury situation doesn't appear to be abating.
Martin Keown thinks a fit Yoane Wissa transforms Newcastle
Bruno Guimaraes won't be available for the next round, and that's about as big a miss as you can get. Meanwhile, other key players such as Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa are really struggling for form.
However, Martin Keown believes that Wissa could be the key for Newcastle going forward, as he told TNT Sports last night that they could look to take advantage of his pace up top.
"I just feel the squad isn't big enough. Obviously, the owners are very wealthy, but financial fair play has hurt them, and (Alexander) Isak going when he did, they never really got going at the start of the season from an attacking point of view.
"Wissa's come in and he's still not really ready yet. But if they can get him ready and that pace at the top of the team, then they look dangerous."
We're not convinced Yoane Wissa is the solution
We've not really seen anything from Yoane Wissa to back up Keown's claims as yet, and if it was as easy as using pace, then we've got Anthony Gordon for that.
Pace isn't our issue up front; it's having a forward with enough nous to know when to make those runs into the box and make themselves available to meet a cross.
Newcastle have been pinging balls into the area from out wide all season, and nobody has been getting on the end of them. That's our biggest flaw. Pace may play a part in that in terms of players getting into the area, but it's mostly been a lack of awareness and endeavour from our forwards that has let us down.
