Eddie Howe backed the decision to start William Osula over Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa despite Newcastle United's loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Newcastle took a first-half lead through Osula, but failed to hold on for all three points, with substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta striking twice to flip the script late on.

Osula has scored in two of his last three Premier League appearances for Newcastle, after only netting in two of his first 50 outings in the competition.

The Magpies managed just seven shots at Selhurst Park, with only two of those coming after the break.

But Howe opted to leave both Woltemade, who has seven Premier League goals to his name this term, on the bench until the 84th minute, while Wissa was not introduced until the 95th, after Mateta had scored the winner.

The duo cost a combined £124m for Newcastle in the summer, though Wissa missed a large chunk of the campaign through injury. With both fit and available, Howe was questioned as to why he did not look to them from the start.

"I don't pick the team based on transfer fees," Howe said.

"I have to pick the team based on what I see. I thought Will Osula was training well and deserved to start. I thought he played well. He took his goal well.

"He's got the physical attributes, the determination to do really well."

Newcastle have now dropped 25 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season – five more than any other side.

Their late defensive lapses have certainly played their part; they have conceded 18 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half, more than any other top-flight side in 2025-26.

It is the second game on the spin when they have given up a first-half lead, only to lose in the 90th minute or later, after their bruising Tyne-Wear derby defeat last month.

"Those numbers [25 points lost from winning positions] are incredible. It's blighted our season," Howe said.

"The fact we haven't been able to consolidate really good passages of the game, but also to go on and score more goals and continue to attack. That's not the tactical instruction we give the players.

"We don't want to go 1-0 up and change to a mentality of defending, but we've done it, so I can't say it hasn't happened. But then, if you are going to defend, we have to defend better than we did.

"We gave them few chances, but we still look vulnerable towards the end of the game, and that's hugely disappointing."