Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admits they weren’t at their best for Saturday’s FA Cup win at Fulham.
Newcastle won 2-0 to reach the Fifth round via goals from Sean Longstaff and Dan Gore.
Howe said, “It was an excellent result, if not our finest performance.
“We had to be really resilient, and scored at an important moment before half-time. That settled us down, we were much better in that period with a counter attack threat and much improved I thought.
“Sean [Longstaff] is capable off both feet, he is a great ball striker and showed with that finish. Dan’s goal was a massive moment in the match, we are a threat from set plays with the height we have.”
On whether he feels his team have benefitted from the winter break, he added: “Going into the game I thought we would but sometimes in cup games that does not happen. You have to be resilient and find a way through. That was a morale boosting win for us after the City game and hopefully that gives us confidence going into the Aston Villa match.”
And on if he is confident on keeping hold of his best players, Howe also said: “I am not sure confident is the word, we hope to, from my side lets wait and see, not much has happened around European football but fingers crossed it is uneventful for us.”
