Eddie Howe rebuffs Newcastle United concern after Carabao Cup defeat

Howe’s side was beaten 2-0 by Manchester United at Wembley on Sunday thanks to strikes from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford.

The defeat came after the club, which has been struggling for goals, dropped down to fifth place after several months in the top four, and Howe was asked after the game if it would be a challenge for him to ensure that there’s no fallout from the final.

“Personally as I sit here now, I don't think that will be an issue," said United’s head coach. “These players have responded every time they’ve been questioned this season with a really positive response.

“They will be very disappointed today. They have a very difficult next game to come – probably in the football calendar the most difficult – but that’ll be a great challenge for us to go into. But I'm proud of the players today – that's my emotion.”

Newcastle, underdogs in the final, were in the Premier League’s relegation zone when Howe took charge in late 2021.

“Manchester United come from a totally different place to us,” said Howe.

“We were fighting relegation last year, and in a desperate battle to stay in the division. We achieved that comfortably in the end, although it wasn’t comfortable at all in the process of working in it.

“This season was an unknown for us. Would we step up and continue our momentum – or would it be another season of struggle. There’s no guarantee.

"The players have done exceptionally well to elevate ourselves to an incredible position, to have done really well in this competition, but we are not the finished article by any means.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us to continue to improve. It only gets harder, because the competition improves as well, so yes, there are lots of areas for us to improve.”

Newcastle will take on Premier League champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The club is four points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with two games in hand.