NEWCASTLE boss Eddie Howe has warned his players they need to raise their game if they are to maintain a promising start to the new Premier League season.
The Magpies head to Wolves on Sunday sitting in fifth place in the table with seven points from a possible nine, although their victories over Southampton and Tottenham and a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth have all come courtesy of battling displays in which they have not reached the heights they have in previous campaigns under Howe.
However, with trips to Wolves and Fulham in the league and League Two Wimbledon to come in their next three fixtures, he knows they will have to be better to carry on in the same vein.
Asked about their start, Howe said: “Very good results, really pleased with the start we’ve made in what we know is such a difficult league.
“Performance-wise, we know we still haven’t hit top gear. I think we’ve done well in different passages of each game, but not consistently through the 90 minutes.
“That’s what we’re looking to do, and we’re going to have to do because now we’re going into a spell where we’re playing away from home, some difficult games, so we’re preparing for that test.”
The visit to Molineux is one which has proved difficult for Newcastle in recent years regardless of their form.
They have not won at Wolves in six Premier League attempts and although they have lost only one of those games, head coach Howe is expecting another difficult afternoon at the hands of former Portsmouth team-mate Gary O’Neil.
He said with a smile: “’Team-mates’ is a loose term because I was always injured and he was always playing, so I’d be watching him play. And I admired him as a player, I thought he was a very, very good technical player and I had a lot of respect for him.
“It’s been great to see his coaching journey because it’s slightly different to mine. He’s been thrust into a very high level of coaching and he’s taken to it superbly well.
“It’s been great to see his coaching journey because it’s slightly different to mine. He’s been thrust into a very high level of coaching and he’s taken to it superbly well.
“He’s a real thinker of the game and I sort of knew that as a team-mate, a very deep guy, cares about the game, really tactically astute, so we’ll be ready for a difficult challenge.”
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