The German head coach admits he was braced for the day that Newcastle's decision to sell their best players would come back to haunt them

Matthias Jaissle has revealed he knew the day would come when the loss of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes would hit Newcastle United hard.

United banked £244million for the trio in the summer and set out on a brave journey to sign younger players such as Bazoumana Toure, Matias Fernandez-Pardo, Aladji Bamba and Sean Steur. But as Jaissle's side left the pitch looking deflated after a poor show against Aston Villa, the boos rang out at St James' Park.

It left fans pining for the Eddie Howe days as their team lacked leaders and know-how in the final third with some gaping holes in midfield summing up what Newcastle had lost in Tonali and Bruno. A glum Jaissle faced up to the challenge ahead but admitted the club were always going to struggle without their three star names.

One of Howe's reasons for leaving Newcastle was that he could not see how the team could compete without his big names or by replacing them with unproven talent from around Europe. And so it has proved in the last two matches after defeats against Coventry and Aston Villa.

Jaissle, who took the job in August after Howe's resignation, said: "It was something we were all aware of. When we joined, the first big names had already left the club, and afterwards, big names left. We knew it would come.

"We knew with the journey and brave approach to sign new talents, it would be even more challenging. But this is not an excuse. As soon as we understand that the young lads can learn fast and they have the huge potential, then it’s going to be a successful journey."

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Jaissle's decision to lump returning defender Dan Burn up front as a centre-forward also riled some fans with critics claiming the move demonstrated the lack of a Plan B. Jaissle responded: "At that stage we were purely all in.

"You could see if the long ball was coming, he is 99% going to win it. If the all drops down in the box and we have that final shot it could lead to the equaliser, so that was the decision.

"We knew in additional time that there would be two or three occasions, and there were.

"If you are smart enough, he was the biggest guy on the pitch, so in our eyes it made total sense to get long balls in. We'd have been happy if we'd taken the opportunity out of that situation."

Jaissle retains full backing from the powers that be after a turbulent summer in which he was thrown in at the deep end. Sporting director Ross Wilson and CEO David Hopkinson nailed their colours firmly to the mast with the latter even calling the German a 'rock star' in an interview.

Jaissle himself reasoned that the performance against Villa, despite boos at half-time and full-time, was not that bad and that there is a belief they can come through a sticky situation.

Ahead of a big week which culminates in a trip to Crystal Palace next Sunday, Jaissle said: "We have belief, purely belief, because the first 30 minutes was really good, until we conceded the goal actually.

"It's a bit typical for a young squad really, emotion-wise a bit shaky with ups and downs during a match, and we need to learn to find the reset straight away and consistently believe in the things we were doing before. I cannot say anything against the attitude but the goal is missing."