Christian Atsu still finds himself on the fringes of the Newcastle team despite  been a starter at the beginning of Steve Bruce's tenure.

The winger came of the bench to help Newcastle United record only their third win in 11 matches this campaign.

Ciaran Clarke opened the floodgates in the 16th minute a game which saw five goals produced between both sides.

Fellow defender Frederico Fernandez added the second some 6 minutes later before Jonjo Shelvey curled home a sumptous free kick from about 35 yards to make it 3 nil for the visitors.

Fabian Balbuena pulled one back for the home side in the 73rd minute before very late in the game Robert Snodgrass tried to force a come back but it was too little too late for the hammers.

The 27-year-old who came on as a 77th minute substitute tweeted after the game "3 points Let’s continue working hard to keep this momentum #GodWin "

Christian Atsu asked for an excuse duty on medical grounds during the latest Black Stars call-up in the double header against South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe later this month.