Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe was happy to let his Toon stars enjoy Saturday night and the feeling of eight games unbeaten. But that unscathed streak of results will now be put to the test on the road as United prepare for four consecutive away trips at Southampton, Chelsea, Everton and Spurs.
With some games more daunting than others, Newcastle will do well to emerge unbeaten by the end of a 23 day spell. Howe reflected last night: “We’ve got a really difficult run of games – we’ve got four away games, which I think for any team in the Premier League is very difficult, and also they are four difficult opponents, so today was very important.
“It’s lifted us in terms of, obviously, the points, but we haven’t achieved anything. I saw the players in the dressing room afterwards and it’s a good sign. They’re pleased, but they’re not over the top in how they are feeling. They know we are still in the midst of a very important spell.”
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Yet Newcastle's seven-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three is a much better situation than United were faced with only in January when they were second bottom in the table. Howe said: “We’ve come from a long way back and we had a lot of work to do.
"I remember sitting here after the Watford game at home and we realised we needed to win matches, draws weren’t going to be good enough for us. But the players have committed to everything – again today physically, the shift they put in out of possession was huge, so the spirit and the resolve needed is there.
“There could have been improvements in our performance today, but at the moment, it’s all about the results for us and it was another good one.”
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