Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe is hopeful away win over Everton could be a turning point in their season, although their wait for Yoane Wiss to make his club debut looks set to continue. Tuesday’s match with Tottenham.
The Magpies finally claimed their first Premier League away win in an inconsistent season on Saturday with a 4-1 victory at Hill Dickinson thanks to a Malick Thiaw brace and goals from Lewis Miley and Nick Woltemade.
Newcastle are six points outside the top four in a tight league after recording back-to-back wins in the Premier League for the first time this season.
Consistency is “vital” for Newcastle.
And after banishing their away demons ahead of back-to-back home games against Tottenham and Burnley, Howe will be hoping his side can build momentum at any crucial time of the season.
“It’s vital that we find the consistency we’re looking for,” Howe said. “We seem to be yo-yoing between the Champions League and the Premier League and we’re unable to put our foot down and find that sweet spot we’ve been looking for all season.
“Hopefully this is a turning point for us. But every opponent we face in the Premier League is so difficult and now we face Tottenham who are a good team who have their strengths and a team we will have to respect as always.”
“We’ve always felt, even during some tough runs, that the league is very tight this year and a consistent winning streak can move you up very quickly.
“We’re in a better position than we were, not necessarily in terms of league position, but in terms of points difference. A couple of wins and we’re back to where we want to be.”
“This is a really crucial period because what you can’t do is let yourself get carried away. We know where we want to be, we have work to do to get there and we really need a run of games where we have positive results. That’s what we’re looking for.”
“When we’re very good at that, I think we’re very hard to play against. I think we’ve had a few games this year where we haven’t been that team and we’re not nearly as effective.”
“The schedule we have, fresh players on the pitch, is one thing and then you have to execute the plan. Physically the players will have to dig deep this year because there are a lot of games, but it was a big step forward against Everton.”
Wissa is coming up on debut
Newcastle have added depth to their squad following the returns of first-choice full-backs Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, while Miley’s impressive display served as a huge boost for Howe, who is looking to make the most of his options in midfield.
Howe’s men would be in an even better position if Wissa was available. The DR Congo striker has yet to play for Newcastle, having moved from Brentford on deadline day after picking up a knee injury on international duty, meaning they have had to rely primarily on club-record signing Woltemade going forward.
But Wissa is finally training with his team-mates and Howe revealed he took another step towards his debut as Newcastle put Everton to the sword.
“(Wissa) took part in an 11v11 training match when we were at Everton and I think he will have another one at some stage this week,” added Howe. “We’ll see how close it is.
Howe had no word on Nick Pope’s groin injury, which led to Aaron Ramsdale taking his place in goal, but revealed centre-back Sven Botman is set to see a specialist to assess his back problem.
