Che Adams has admitted that Saints were ‘shocked’ by Newcastle United's quick start to Tuesday night’s EFL Cup semi-final second leg at St James’ Park.

Losing 1-0 on aggregate from the first leg defeat at St Mary’s, Saints already had a major challenge on their hands as they travelled North to face Eddie Howe’s defensive juggernaut who were on a run of ten consecutive clean sheets.

But that task became significantly more difficult after the first 21 minutes when Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff struck twice to stretch the Magpies’ lead to 3-0 on aggregate. 

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Adams notched a well-taken effort shortly after but it was much too little too late as the hosts held out to win 2-1 on the night.

“We knew they were going to come out like that in the first half," Adams told the Daily Echo. "It’s always difficult to come here but we should have known that from the start and been more front-footed and we weren’t.

"They shocked us with two easy and quite simple chances that they created and the game was out of reach by then. But we just have to remain positive and go into Saturday.

“The way we went out so early on in the game…we gave ourselves a massive mountain to climb. But second half we were much better, defending on the front foot, we created chances that we could have and maybe should have taken. But there are plenty of positives to build off of in the second half.

“Everyone knows St James’ is a hard place to come to and not many teams create chances here. We did that and we just couldn’t take them. They are a really good team and hard to play against but we created chances and unfortunately, it wasn’t to be today.”

The slender second leg defeat marked the tenth occasion this season that Saints have lost by one goal and the pain of the semi-final exit will have been exasperated by big missed chances in both legs, notably Adams’ and fellow striker Adam Armstrong both failing to beat Nick Pope when one-on-one with the Newcastle goalkeeper.

Daily Echo: Che Adams has a big chance to give Saints the lead against Newcastle at St Mary's.Che Adams has a big chance to give Saints the lead against Newcastle at St Mary's. (Image: Che Adams sees a big chance saved by Nick Pope in the second half at St Mary's. Image: Stuart Martin)

“I don’t know really,” Adams answered when asked about why Saints keep suffering defeat by the finest of margins. “It’s just about being consistent in the way we play and being confident as well. Because the Premier League is hard. 

“The Premier League is difficult and Newcastle are a really good team and hard to play against. We’ll take positives from the second half and build on it now into the Premier League on Saturday.”

Saints boss Nathan Jones opted to start with a back five for the second leg clash on Tyneside and it’s a decision that has come under scrutiny following his side’s sluggish start and notable improvement after switching to four-at-the-back after half-time.

But Adams has insisted that Saints’ early issues were not due to the chosen formation.

“No, definitely not,” he said. “It’s just defending, one vs one, and being aggressive in our duals. And we weren’t that in the first ten or 15 minutes. But we’ll dust ourselves off now, it wasn’t to be tonight.”

Saints are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they head to West London to face Thomas Frank’s Brentford for the first time this season after their September meeting at St Mary’s was postponed.

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