Newcastle United’s home attendance plummeted for a third game running for the home clash with Brighton & Hove Albion.

A crowd of 43,316 turned out for the encounter with the Seagulls , although the crowd was slightly better than forecast in the build-up to the match.

United’s attendance was down on the 44,157 that turned out against Watford for the 1-1 draw in August and over 4,000 short of the crowd that watched the 1-0 loss to Arsenal. It is the lowest for eight years, since 42,684 turned up for Fulham's visit.

There were pockets of empty seats in the Leazes End and rows of blank spaces in the East Stand.

But the attendance was not helped by a modest turn out from Brighton fans with two blocks of the away sections completely empty,