Eddie Howe has challenged his Newcastle United players to 'build' on their best performance of the season against Manchester United as the Magpies attempt to defy the odds and stay up.
Newcastle produced a spirited display in the 1-1 draw against the Red Devils at St James' Park on Monday night and could and should have gone home with all three points given the number of chances they created.
As poor as undercooked Manchester United were - it was the visitors' first game in 16 days following a COVID outbreak - Newcastle played with a newfound intensity as the players fed off the energy of the crowd and carried a threat on transitions.
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Allan Saint-Maximin gave the hosts the lead in the seventh minute, but Newcastle's failure to score a second goal proved costly after substitute Edinson Cavani equalised late on.
Newcastle remain in 19th place - two points from safety - at the halfway point of the campaign and it remains to be seen when the Magpies will next play.
Thursday night's trip to Everton has been postponed after a host of Newcastle players were ruled out through COVID and injury and Sunday's game at Southampton is also in doubt.
Whenever Newcastle next play, Howe wants the performance against Manchester United to be the standard as the black-and-whites prepare for a run of crucial games against sides in the bottom half next month.
"Very much so. We need to build on what we've seen in this game," he told reporters on Zoom after Monday night's draw.
"I think there were large elements in the Liverpool game and the Manchester City game that we saw similar to be honest but, ultimately, the results in those games weren't as good.
"Sometimes, that gets lost. Obviously, we conceded some disappointing goals in both of those games.
"I think we've had three pretty consistent performances. No doubt today's was the best in terms of our defensive delivery and our attacking performance. That was the best we've seen since I've come here but, hopefully, we've been improving to deliver that today and we've got a lot more to go.
"We know the games only get harder - they don't get easier - but I'm very boosted by what we've seen from the players today."
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