Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was happy to grind out their FA Cup win at Fulham on Saturday.
The Toon won 2-0 thanks to goals from Sean Longstaff and Dan Burn.
Howe later said: “Difficult game, not our finest performance. I think you win these types of games in the mind.
“The motivation had to be there, the resilience had to be there, and both were. The second half was better in terms of technical delivery. We are pleased to win and keep a clean sheet, and score two good goals.
“We knew it was going to be difficult tonight. You come to this ground, it is a Premier League [level] game. We’ve got our injury troubles and are not at our fluent best.
“In these sorts of games that is when you have to try and dig out a result, and try and get yourself into the next round. That is where I have to praise the players – we weren’t at our best in the first half but we came in at the break 1-0 which was a good scoreline for us.”
He added: “Sean’s finish is a great shot with his left foot, and Dan, well I don’t think he could have missed that. He has scored some important goals for us, none more so than last year in our cup run to the Carabao Cup final. That second goal was all important for us.”
On the possibility of reaching Wembley, Howe said: “It would be incredible to do it in the FA Cup. The Carabao Cup whetted the appetite for us, it was an incredible day, the scenes beforehand, the support we had. We were so disappointed not to deliver the result. Hopefully we can go a long way in this competition this year.”
