Miguel Almiron and Harrison Ashby got the goals to ensure the Magpies made it two wins from two in pre-season before they fly out to the United States for the next part of their 2023-24 preparations.

"Coming to a big stadium, you have to deal with the ferocious home support and we did that," Howe told the club website, external. "Bits of the first half were outstanding and we played some really good football.

"The second half was not as pretty and we made lots of changes, but you would expect that. However, we found a way to win again and that's a good thing."

Howe has been delighted with what he has seen from his players so far but, as usual, is demanding high standards.

"The lads have come back fit and in a really good place," he said. "I expect them to [perform well] - I see it every day in training.

"The technical delivery of our gameplan was high but, for all our football, we did not really hurt them enough. We scored a great goal with good passages of play but there are other things we can improve."