Howe confirms January interest in two players - but will we live to regret signing neither? 

Eddie Howe has admitted he is a big admirer of former Toon targets Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli following the January window.

We made failed attempts on deadline day to sign both England internationals, with Lingard being forced to stay at Man Utd and Alli opting to join Everton instead.

Lingard, in particular, was a frustrating situation for us as it was clear the player wanted a move to secure first-team football.

Howe was grilled by the press ahead of tonight’s Premier League clash against Everton and confessed to our interest in the duo.

This is what he said to the media when asked if both were January targets:

"Jesse Lingard is a player I have always admired. And that's probably the best thing to say."

“All I’ll say on Dele is he is a player I’ve admired and liked for many, many years.

"I obviously tracked his progress from MK Dons through to what he’s done at Tottenham and the national team.

“He’s a top player.”

Howe also confirmed that Callum Wilson’s injury could see him ruled out until the final games of the season.

Losing our number nine again is a real blow to our survival hopes. But it also begs the question… will we regret not signing either Lingard or Alli?

Both players are capable of scoring goals from midfield and, looking at our current side, finding the back of the net may be a problem in the second half of the campaign if Chris Wood can't hit the ground running.

Wilson and Saint-Maximin are our only real goal threats. One dares not think about what could happen if the latter were to get injured after we failed to sign another attacker on deadline day...