Howe pleased with Newcastle ‘step in right direction’ amid sack speculation; confirms star has ‘knock’

Eddie Howe was pleased that his Newcastle United side took a “step in the right direction” as they beat Sunderland in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.

Ahead of Newcastle’s FA Cup third-round tie against arch-rivals Sunderland, Howe’s side had lost seven of their previous eight matches across all competitions.

Pressure has been mounting on Howe, who is currently the third favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked. 

So the Newcastle manager is right to be pleased after his players showed up when they needed him at Sunderland. Alexander Isak netted a brace after defender Dan Ballard scored an own goal in a much-needed 3-0 win at the Stadium of Light.

Howe claimed he was “never worried about the draw” and he praised his side for being “brave and composed” against Sunderland.

“It feels great [to win], I never worried about the draw I always thought it was a great draw – as long as we won it,” Howe said on ITV.

“We handled the occasion well, were brave with the ball and were very composed. We didn’t let the crowd take over and we handled everything really well in the first half.

“I think we are still a bit off our best but it was a step in the right direction, hopefully, the forward momentum can continue.

“If you look at the size of the games we’ve had this year this was nothing new. We’ve handled big occasions really well this year.

“We had to do the little bits right today and that’s what happened. It keeps us in an important competition and that brings hope.

“The Premier League doesn’t get easy with fixtures so this game was important.”

On Joelinton being forced off with an injury, he added: “He looks like he’s got a bit of a knock.”

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Dan Burn meanwhile said the “crowd really made it” an enjoyable FA Cup tie to be involved in.

“It was a special win,” Burn said.

“I think there was a lot of build up to the game so to come through with a win and a clean sheet is great.

“It has been a long time since we’ve played this type of game. If you can ask fans whether they would rather advance in the Champions League or beat Sunderland, I think they would pick beating Sunderland.

“It was a great day and the crowd really made it.

“We’ve had a lot of games so it has been hard to train and habits have fallen away a bit, but that was back to us today, the way we pressed and fought.”