'We knew': Eddie Howe makes Burnley point following Newcastle United's comfortable win at Turf Moor

The Magpies found themselves under the cosh right from the off against Vincent Kompany’s men, who came firing out of the blocks in the knowledge they realistically needed to win in their fight against relegation.

But the Clarets failed to capitalise on their early momentum and immediately capitulated as soon as Newcastle edged their noses in front in the 19th minute.

The hosts never recovered and Newcastle strolled their way to a routine three points on the road.

Speaking after the game, Howe said: “We knew today was going to be difficult and that was highlighted by the first 10 minutes, because that was a tough start to the game for us.

“We knew Burnley would come out firing, we knew the crowd would play a part in that, so I’m really pleased with the reaction to that.

“From the goal onwards, from when we scored our first goal it was a great display. I thought we looked really good physically, we had a lot of pace in our team. When you’ve got those qualities, you can give any team problems.

“Confidence is gradually returning to the group, strength is returning to the group as you could see with our bench, so it’s a really good day for us.”

While the game was crucial for Burnley in their fight against relegation, it was also a big game for Newcastle in their battle for European qualification.

“We’re determined to finish as high as possible,” How e added.

“With 10 games to go we tried to reset our targets and since the international break you’ve seen a general improvement in our performances.

“We’ve got to keep that going for the last three games of the season. But I think you could sense there was a real desire today. I sensed that in training during the week and that’s because we have a really good group full of leaders and winners. They’d love to get back to Europe, I’m sure.”