'Absolutely' - Eddie Howe responds to Alan Shearer's bold Newcastle United claim amid Liverpool bid

Newcastle have won each of their last nine matches in all competitions and head into Saturday’s match against Bournemouth at St James’ Park (12:30pm kick-off) looking to make it a club record 10th win in a row. It would also mark a seventh successive league win, the longest streak any side has managed in the English top flight so far this season.

Wednesday night’s 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers saw Newcastle move up into fourth in the Premier League table with their recent run of form taking them nine points behind league leaders Liverpool. Although The Reds have a game in hand and have made a major bid to claim a second Premier League title, Newcastle’s impressive run of form has raised the question of whether they could mount a title charge this season.

It was sparked by Shearer, who said on Match of the Day that Eddie Howe’s side ‘have got the system working’ and ‘have a chance’ of being in a title race if they keep their form going.

The suggestion was put to Howe in his pre-match press conference on Friday, to which he sarcastically replied: “I don’t know what you’re talking about from Alan!

He then added: “No, I have [seen the comments], a few people have told me what he said.

“I always say, and I think I said this after the Wolves game, I have no problem with fans getting caught up in any kind of feeling. That’s absolutely encouraged.

“The players, I think, slightly different. They have got to still be controlled.

Sometimes that talk and those thoughts, you can take your focus on what you actually have to do to get there and certainly, from my viewpoint, would be more towards the players' side. But I think that it’s important that we recognise our strengths and how strong we are - I think we are a really strong team playing well.

“I really love our squad, I think we are in a really good place, we’ve got some very good players and we are trying to enjoy what we are doing without thinking too much about the consequences at this minute in time.”