Watch Eddie Howe's reaction to 8-0 win after Toon set new record in Sheffield
Eddie Howe has been speaking to Sky Sports presenter David Jones following our record-breaking win over Sheffield United on Sunday, hailing our performance at the end of a near-perfect week.
It's our joint biggest top flight win and the first time in Premier League history that there's been eight different scorers in a game.
Howe praised the relentless mentality of his players and was particularly happy to see Alexander Isak (one goal in his previous 12) and Sean Longstaff get on the scoresheet, believing the local lad has the ability to be a goalscoring midfielder. A third straight clean sheet was also a "welcome boost", as we'd kept just two in our last 22 prior to that 3-1 defeat at Brighton.
The boss insists there was no panic following our slow start to the season, but accepts the 'confidence' of his team has returned after a brilliant run of results; where we've managed a crucial point in Milan in between back-to-back league wins over Brentford and Sheffield United. Watch what he had to say below:
Howe on our tough start to season: "I always believed. The start of the season we had was very difficult. The first game was excellent, a big win over Aston Villa. You'd love to kick on from there, but we had Man City, then the Liverpool result really hurt us and may have affected the Brighton performance. I thought we were really good from the start and when the goals came I felt the confidence in the team returned."
Howe on his half-time message: "The big thing for us was that we really wanted to score and we weren't content with three and I want that mentality to run through the team."
Howe on eight different scores: "We shared them around a bit today. There were important ones there for Alexander Isak to score and Sean Longstaff, for me he is a goal-scoring midfielder. So some really important ones for the individuals."
Howe on three clean sheets in a row: "It is a welcome return to form in that regard because we were so good defensively last season and we weren't as watertight at the start of this one. It is a welcome boost for us because we know we have top quality defenders."
