McKenna must now bring down Ipswich who have lost the ball 13 times

Ipswich TownNewcastle United's confidence will now feel battered and bruised after Eddie Howe's Newcastle United side convincingly put a formidable Tractor Boys side to the sword on Saturday.

Before this dismal 4-0 defeat, Kieran McKennaThe men had basked in the glory of a last-gasp win away to Molineux, only to be reminded of the gap in quality between those near the bottom of the table. Premier League And the attacking power of teams like the Magpies at Portman Road.

It was another shaky display from wobbly Ipswich goalkeeper Arianet Muric, who could now find his place in the first team up for grabs after leaking four goals to give Newcastle a perfect away day just before Christmas.

Arjanette Muric's problems at Ipswich

Of course, the Kosovo was let down by a very porous back four in front of him, but the Tractor Boys' goalkeeper never looked convincing between the crossbars throughout the 90 minutes.

Surprisingly, the former Manchester City player was poaching the ball from his own net with just a minute to go, with Alexander Isak firing an early shot into the net despite Muric trying to block the shot.

The in-form Magpies No.14 went on to score a stunning hat-trick in a one-sided game, and it was all too easy for the Swede to convert the second goal of the day for Isak, who simply ended up slotting the ball past Muric after a counter-attack. Terrible mix-up in the back

In the wake of that nightmare afternoon, McKenna may be tempted to part ways with the error-prone goalkeeper, with games now coming thick and fast in December, considering the 26-year-old has One clean sheet of paper is insignificant Next to his name from 16 Premier League matches.

As he assesses his other options in goal, McKenna will also discuss who to move to as his starting right-back after Harry Clarke's poor display against Newcastle.

Clark's performance by the numbers

Just made for him Fourth start In the Premier League since promotion, it seems unlikely that Clarke will get more frequent opportunities in the first-team squad if his poor performances against Howe's men are anything to go by.

Unfortunately, the former Arsenal youth player looked somewhat out of his depth when thrust into the first-team picture in League One, and it showed in his two yellow cards against Brentford in late October and in that horror show against a rampant Magpies side.

Clarke was regularly turned over by the likes of Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon attacking for the lively visitors, with no tackles from the 23-year-old showing his reluctance to get involved in trying to frustrate Newcastle by constantly finding an opening.

Furthermore, the right-back's wayward passing – which saw the lackluster No2 miss possession 13 times – meant that no meaningful attacks could be formed from the back thanks to the Robbie defender, who also failed to register a single accurate cross throughout. Afternoon despite a whopping seven attempts.

This could lead to another personnel change before Ipswich travel to Arsenal on the 27th, knowing full well that another poor display across the back four could see Mikel Arteta's men attack a sorry Tractor Boys side in north London.

With Axel Tuanzebe sidelined through injury, McKenna is likely to call up Ben Johnson to replace Clarke, as the former West Ham United player's purchase has arguably been disappointing so far, having only just made the move. Five flights starting first class same.

However, the frustrated Ipswich boss will have to make some tough decisions now that he has witnessed such a mediocre display from his pessimistic troops.