In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 150 appearances for Newcastle United, claims the Magpies don't have the players require to pull of Graeme Jones' much loved split striker system.

Jones was Roberto Martinez's assistant at Swansea City, Wigan Athletic, Everton and Belgium before taking his first managerial job at Luton Town which ended up in him being sacked before the season finished.

The split striker system is what Martinez often uses with Belgium, however, it has been strongly discussed on Tyneside by Rob Lee who saw it first hand at Luton where it also didn't work.

Speaking on what is required to make the system work and why Newcastle won't be able to pull it off, Howey told FFC:

"A system can work but you need to get your players to, first of all, buy into it and second of all, be capable of actually pulling it off.

"Roberto Martinez uses it at Belgium so I think that's possibly where he's [Jones] got it from but Newcastle haven't got Lukaku or Kevin De Bruyne.

"You've got to look at your players and try to pick the best formation which suits your team and players."

The Magpies have managed to find themselves all but safe from relegation after a recent uplift in form, sitting nine points above 18th placed Fulham with just four games of the campaign to play.