Gary O'Neil: 'Luck was against Wolverhampton Wanderers in Newcastle United defeat'

The West Midlands outfit made the long trip to St James' Park on the back of a three-match winning streak, overcoming Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United in the Premier League and Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup fifth round.

However, Wolves were well beaten on Tyneside as Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento all got on the scoresheet for the Magpies.

Such a defeat could prove pivotal in the race for European qualification, eighth-placed Newcastle having moved two points clear of Wolves who are in 10th position in the standings.

Nevertheless, rather than feel overly disappointed with the outcome in the North-East, O'Neil insisted on putting the result into context.

As well as Wolves playing a third game in less than a week, they were without a recognised centre-forward and Pedro Neto was withdrawn at half time.

Speaking to Match of the Day, O'Neil said: "It's a tough end to the week, we had key players missing. We had large spells in the game where we looked in control and had loads of the ball.

"There was a touch of good fortune in both of their [first-half] goals. You don't often see teams at St James' Park come and dominate the ball. In terms of the group, they gave everything they had.

"It's just one of those days that you have to accept. Newcastle are on the up, they have a lot of players coming back. We're as short as we've been all year and we're on the back of three games in six days.

"To miss Hwang [Hee-chan] and [Matheus] Cunha was one thing, but to lose [Jose] Sa and Pedro [Neto] was another blow. But in terms of a group willing to work, we looked like a really good side for a long, long spell."

O'Neil revealed to reporters after the game that Hwang Hee-chan would be absent for approximately six weeks with the hamstring injury that he sustained against Brighton in midweek.

With Matheus Cunha only said to be marginally ahead of Hwang in terms of recovery time, Wolves face the prospect of having to rely on Neto, providing that he stays fit, and teenager Nathan Fraser as their central-attacking options for their next six fixtures up to and including April 13.

Wolves now have a week off until they play host to Fulham on March 9, before Coventry City are the visitors to Molineux for their FA Cup quarter-final tie on March 16.