Newcastle United

Image source, Getty Images

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe speaks to BBC Radio 5 Live: “A really good performance tonight, especially in the first half. We tightened up our pressing attitude well and scored a lot of goals high up the pitch, where the first goal came from. We are happy with the contribution of the whole team.”

On what we learned from Sunday’s match against Chelsea: “You always learn from every game and try to put things into practice in the next game. Playing against the same opponent, yes, but against a completely different team, I’m sure they also took things from Sunday tonight.”

“I just felt like there was a better feel to our turnover delivery tonight. We were much better at the details and were able to convert the recoveries into opportunities for the future.

“In the second half it was not an easy game to manage. They brought some good players off the bench to further strengthen the quality they already had on the pitch, but I thought we defended very well.”

About making changes quickly: “You’ve got the game coming up, so you look at that. Two days to recover before another one, so we’ll have to wait and see if we’ve done well.

“We also wanted to look after one or two players who we felt needed protection. Some players deserved to play and stake their claim for more regular playing time and they didn’t hurt their chances.”

On the draw: “Copy and paste what I say every time. I want a home draw because this place is a great venue to play in and that was shown again tonight. Sold out, great atmosphere, good performance and I hope everyone is feeling a little better now about themselves.”