Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey says the squad needed the shake-up January signings have brought.
Newcastle's owners spent more than £90m on Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn and loan signing Matt Targett in their first window in charge.
Eddie Howe had to create space to accommodate the quintet and, following Jeff Hendrick and Freddie Woodman's deadline day loan exits, Jamal Lewis, Ciaran Clark and the injured Isaac Hayden were left out of the Magpies' 25-man squad for the second half of the season.
"At any club, when you get new signings, it gives the players a lift and it creates that bit of uncertainty in terms of you don't know where you're going to be playing and stuff like that so it's good," Shelvey told NUFC TV.
"It keeps the competition. It's probably what we needed to be honest with you. They've all bedded in well so we look forward to it.
"They're very shrewd signings. A lot of them who have come in know the league so I think that will help and, hopefully, we can just build on that. I'm sure they'll hit the ground running and we'll be fine."
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