Newcastle United key player responds to ‘painful’ injury scare v Everton

Two goals from Callum Wilson, a Joelinton header and another for Jacob Murphy saw Newcastle claim a convincing victory at Goodison Park despite an unconvincing start to the match. Everton piled the pressure on the away side in the early stages of the match but were unable to find a breakthrough as Dominic Calvert-Lewin had a goal ruled out by VAR.

"You expect that away to Everton,” Trippier reflected on the start to the match. "It's a tough ground to go to. It's one of the hardest in the league to be honest with you. We didn't play well [first half].

"We managed to hang in there and limited them with chances. We showed that great resilience, the second half we were brilliant and clinical, we have players scoring all around the pitch, we are not just relying on Alex [Isak] or Wils [Callum Wilson] or whoever.

"The midfielders are scoring and it's good. We are showing signs of a good team.”

Trippier added: "The good thing about this team is we have a never say die attitude and we always keep going. We stick together which is the most important thing.

"It's about trying to get the results we need. It doesn't matter how you win them, it is about getting the points you need until the end of the season."

Kieran Trippier bounces back from slight injury scare against Everton

As half-time approached there was some real concern surrounding Trippier following a clash with Everton’s Vitalii Mykolenko which left the Newcastle man in an awkward heap holding his knee for a number of minutes.

Newcastle’s coaching staff instructed Javier Manquillo to warm-up as they prepared for the possibility of substituting the Magpies matchday captain. But Trippier was able to get back on his feet, make it to half-time and help United see out another comfortable win.

The England international insisted after the match that there was nothing to worry about despite some initial discomfort in his knee.

"I am all right, it was just a clash of knees,” Trippier told The Gazette. “It was a painful one in that moment but it’s all right to be fair.

"The main focus is on recovery, the [Southampton] game is in three days, we need to recover and get back to training.”

Newcastle will be looking to make it three wins in a row and move another step closer towards Champions League qualification when they host bottom-of-the-table Southampton at St James’ Park on Sunday (2pm kick-off).

With United currently sitting eight points inside the Champions League positions, Trippier admitted it was a big opportunity for the club to move a step closer to its goals.

Trippier added: "It is. "But we can't get complacent we can't just turn up and think we are going to get three points.

"We're all fighting for different reasons. "Of course, they are going to be up for it. They are fighting for survival, we’re fighting for top four.”