It would be fair to say Newcastle United's summer recruitment plans haven't fully worked.

Clearly, Newcastle can do little about Sandro Tonali's ban from football or the injury to have ruled Harvey Barnes out of action since September.

Tino Livramento has been a success of course but he is arguably the only new recruit to have starred.

The fact they did not sign a No.6 has been noted, while Lewis Hall is yet to show his best.

Indeed, Eddie Howe has only afforded the 19-year-old one Premier League start all season.

Though the club are still expected to pay the PS28m to sign the teenager on a permanent basis this summer, Hall is yet to really get going as a Newcastle player.

Still, Howe is confident that will soon change.

Lewis Hall: What Eddie Howe has now said about Newcastle player Speaking to The Chronicle, Howe underlined the fact he believes Hall has "all the tools" to make a success of his Newcastle career and said that things were coming along nicely.

"He's got all the tools," he said.

"As I have said with Lewis we need patience and calm. But he is developing nicely."

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Couple that with the fact Newcastle have been dealt exceptionally hard ties in various cup draws this season and the chances to bed him in slowly just haven't been there.

Howe has worked wonders with the likes of Sean Longstaff, Fabian Schar, Miguel Almiron and Joelinton since replacing Steve Bruce in 2021. On paper at least, there seems little reason why he can't do similar with Hall.

As the season starts to settle a bit and Newcastle recover players, being able to bring Hall on in more settled circumstances will surely help.