After a stunning start to the campaign, Newcastle United have hit something of a sticky patch in recent weeks, with the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester United having been compounded by the club's recent wobble in the Premier League.

The Magpies' latest outing to Manchester City saw the visitors taste defeat for just the third time this season in the top flight, with the only other losses having come against Liverpool both home and away - including the 2-0 defeat a few weeks ago prior to the trip to Wembley.

While slipping up against such elite opposite is perhaps understandable for a side who are somewhat ahead of schedule in their bid to challenge for a top-four berth, manager Eddie Howe will still be concerned that his side have now failed to win any of their last five league games - leaving them four points off fourth place in the process.

The major issue at present for the Tynesiders appears to be their shortcomings in front of goal, with the St James' Park outfit having been unable to score in any of their last three games in all competitions, while they last scored more than once in a league game back on Boxing Day against Leicester City.

That blunt edge to the attack has been impacted by the form of misfiring striker, Callum Wilson, with it perhaps time that the 31-year-old is taken out of the firing line with the opportunity to hand club-record signing Alexander Isak a chance to shine.

Should Wilson be dropped by Howe?

While Wilson does boast a respectable tally of seven top-flight goals so far this season, the former Bournemouth man has only scored once in the league since the end of October, with that solitary strike coming against West Ham United at the start of last month.

The injury-prone asset also failed to find the back of the net in any of his five League Cup outings, having been particularly quiet in the showpiece defeat to Erik ten Hag's side, after producing a frankly 'ineffectual display' through the middle, as per Daily Express journalist Neil Squires.

Despite those struggles, the Coventry-born dud remained in the starting lineup for the trip to the Etihad, albeit with that decision ultimately backfiring for Howe as the centre-forward again came up short in the final third.

The £46k-per-week man was among those who were chastised for their "terrible" finishing by journalist Luke Edwards, with the six-cap marksman having been particularly culpable after producing a "woeful effort" in the first half.

The 5 foot 11 asset was unable to make clean contact with the goal at his mercy on what was a frustrating afternoon for Newcastle as a whole, with Wilson, in particular, looking a shadow of his usual self.

As such, it must surely be time that the out-of-sorts figure is ditched from the side moving forward, particularly with the aforementioned Isak making an impact off the bench against Pep Guardiola's men.

As journalist Josh Bunting stated, the northeast side "look their most dangerous" with the towering Swede - and Allan Saint-Maximin - on the pitch, hence the need to get the 23-year-old more regularly involved.

While there may be a desire to partner the former Real Sociedad man alongside Wilson, the latter man's recent failings should see him resigned to a substitute role moving forward.