Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has called on his players to use the final 10 Premier League games to build on their success in the Carabao Cup.
The Magpies won their first domestic trophy in 70 years at Wembley before the international break, beating Liverpool at Wembley to lift a rare piece of silverware.
And hundreds of thousands gathered on Tyneside to join the parade and bask in the celebrations which included local heroes Ant and Dec, as well as Alan Shearer.
But for Howe, the attention has turned back to the Premier League and Newcastle’s quest to secure Champions League football.
They face Brentford on Wednesday, a team they lost 4-2 earlier in the campaign.
In his pre-match press conference, the Newcastle head coach admitted that defeat was a catalyst for their season and spoke about what he is hoping for in the final stretch.
He said: “It was a very difficult day, that one. It was a catalyst for us in terms of regrouping and changing our season’s momentum. We went on a really good winning run after that.
Eddie Howe on building on Carabao Cup success:
“The pain of losing the final [in 2023], although it was a big disappointment, it fired us in the Premier League, so we used that pain. How we’re going to respond to success is a different feeling but we need the outcome to be… pic.twitter.com/wGwzc07srf
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) April 1, 2025
“We had some thorough analysis of that game. We know Brentford are a good team and we played them on our way to the Carabao Cup final as well and that was another tough game.
“Thomas [Frank] has done a really good job there. They are strong in set-pieces. Their away form is really strong now and they are a free-scoring side. So it will be very tough.
“It has been a case of resetting and looking at our goals again in a different way. We need to put what happened against Liverpool to the back of our minds and now really focus on the future.
“We have enjoyed the break. We went to the Carabao Cup final knowing we had time to absorb what happened in that game. Thankfully, it was positive.
“But now we are ready to play again. That’s what we do. We are still in the middle of the season. It’s been a long break. but we have tried to navigate that as well as we can with all the emotion around the game we had. But we are focussed on the next match.
“We have 10 games and 10 great opportunities to try and turn our Premier League season into a memorable one like the cup final. We are looking forward to it and I am hopeful the lads are boosted and have renewed confidence.”
Newcastle sit sixth in the Premier League table, but are only two points off fourth-placed Chelsea, who face Tottenham on Thursday.
A win could catapult them into the Champions League spots, with fifth expected to be awarded an extra place in the competition.
