Half time: Newcastle 0 Burnley 0

Full time: Newcastle 0 Burnley 0

Steve Bruce said:

"Four wins and two draws is not an easy run to put together in the Premier League, but we are often better than people think.

"We are on 38 points and I’m always hungry for more. I have to remain balanced because are still a work in progress and there are no statements of grandeur.

"I just feel a little bit deflated because we came here in good spirits and looked a bit flat.

"I’m sure tomorrow morning, when I wake up, I’ll be a lot more pleased than I am now, but I do expect a lot of these players and they should too because they are maturing all the while and earning the right to be in the Premier League.

"I’m probably being hyper-critical of the players because they have put a lot of points on the board recently, but you do get greedy and more expectant of performance levels.

"I think with what we had achieved in the last five games, coming into this one, I was expecting more confidence with the ball. However, we did all the hard yards to ensure we got a clean sheet and a point.

"There was a lot of huff and puff from ourselves and I thought we were below-par offensively, but defensively very strong.

"I think that’s 11 clean sheets now, which is the best in the league, so that side of it is very pleasing.

“We just never got into the feel of the game, or even found enough quality to go and open the game up in our favour.

"I thought in the first half there was a nervousness in the stadium and I said to the players, they are the moments where we can grow.

"In the second half, credit to them because they got the ball forwards more and asked more questions, but our defensive diligence was very good and snuffed out most of the problems they caused.”
 

A second successive home draw maintained Newcastle's glacial progress toward top-flight survival on Saturday, although it was pitiful to watch.

Steve Bruce's side were more attack-minded after discarding the back five, but their scoreless run was extended to four games - and it's now just a solitary Premier League victory in the last ten.

United lined up with five changes to the side beaten at Crystal Palace; Valentino Lazaro suspended while Fabian Schar, Allan Saint-Maximin, Nabil Bentaleb and Sean Longstaff all dropped to the bench.

In came Javier Manquillo, Jonjo Shelvey, Isaac Hayden, Dwight Gayle and Matt Ritchie in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formation, depending on how far forward Joelinton played on the left (others read it as 4-2-3-1).

Burnley arrived on Tyneside unbeaten in four league games and looking for a third successive away victory that would have given them their first top-flight double over Newcastle since 1960/61.

Having saved his side on many occasions this season though, goalkeeper Martin Dubravka had an untroubled afternoon against an off-colour Clarets side who conjured up just a single effort on target.

Opposite number Nick Pope was busier, but never called upon to make a match-winning save - weak shots from Miguel Almiron and Gayle no problem to him and more notable efforts from Gayle and two from Ritchie off-target.  

Completing his first full game for the Magpies since May 2018, Gayle did well enough and his habit of winning free kicks in the final third of the field was an asset  - something we just haven't had lately.

The understanding with Almiron briefly glimpsed at Wolves in January wasn't in evidence, but more than once he sprang well to win an aerial challenge - something that our number nine seems rather more hesitant to emulate.

An almost eerily quiet home support began to rouse themselves in protest at the non-appearance of Saint-Maximin when he appeared in the closing stages - seemingly later than needed, but perhaps justified when Bruce confirmed that he'd not trained properly all week.

However he didn't see a great deal of the ball on the left flank; Almiron's forays into the box from the opposite flank seeming more likely to produce that elusive breakthrough.

The bulk of the chances that fell to a home shirt though went to Ritchie: unlucky with one well-placed header and a long-range blast, and denied several time by vital Burnley blocks and deflections.

That's disappointing and frustrating, but if nothing else we actually made it into the opposition half of the pitch - something of a novelty for most of the current season.

Rather than saying this was better, it's more accurate to term today's display less worse than the dross served up lately. The personnel change wasn't immediately successful, but will hopefully be justified by improved results and displays in the coming weeks as those returning players bed in again.

In isolation, this point wasn't a bad return against a Burnley side who are almost home and dry after an upturn since last year - but less impressive when compared to the exploits of sides beneath us.

Bournemouth came from behind to lead Chelsea but had to settle for a point, while West Ham won for the first time in eight games against Southampton.

And most incredibly, Watford became the first side to defeat Liverpool this season - scoring three goals without reply at an incredulous Vicarage Road. 

We sit fourteenth with 32 points, five clear of the bottom three and with work still to do if we aren't to be caught by our pursuers. Relying on other sides to remain poor until May is no longer a viable plan, but it's debatable whether the prospect of demotion has even been considered on Barrack Road.

Dreams of a cup run are rapidly being replaced by more mundane ambitions - quite simply we now have other priorities.

Biffa