CALLUM WILSON claims the quality of Newcastle United’s signings in the last few years has helped to increase his goalscoring threat.

Wilson took his Premier League tally for the season to 13 goals as he bagged a brace in Thursday’s 4-1 win at Everton, an impressive tally given that he missed a significant chunk of the campaign through injury.

The 31-year-old finished last season with eight league goals to his name, and claimed 12 in the whole of the previous campaign, and feels his improved tally this term is largely down to the increased quality of those around him.

“It’s going well,” said Wilson, ahead of tomorrow’s home game with Southampton. “It shows that previous seasons have not been good enough really as a striker.

“You want to be up 15 plus for your club and since we've brought in new players, it's added a new dimension to the football team.

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“On the pitch, we have more quality now. That's no disrespect to the players that have gone before, but now we've got world-class players who are playing week in, week out around you, and it creates more opportunities.”

Eddie Howe has been mixing-and-matching between Wilson and Alexander Isak in recent weeks, so despite his midweek double, Newcastle’s number nine could find himself back on the bench for tomorrow’s meeting with the Saints.

Understandably, he would like to be starting every game, but he regards his relationship with Isak as a mutually-beneficial case of healthy competition.

“All you can do is keep going,” he said. “I got another opportunity from the start (at Everton) and like the last time I started, you've just got to repay the faith and I've managed to get another brace.”