Eddie Howe finally shares exciting Newcastle United plan he's been itching to discuss

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe looked like a satisfied head coach as he took his seat deep in the bowels of the London Stadium.

It's a venue that has been kind to the Magpies and that run of results continued last night. There was also a sense of a weight off the shoulders of Howe as he and his staff can now focus solely on the Carabao Cup final, knowing their Champions League hopes are in looking prosperous.

After breathing a slight sigh of relief, Howe told Chronicle Live: "We’ve had a challenging week. It’s a brilliant response. It’s exactly what we needed. We needed the players to empty the tank. I thought we dug in, we were disciplined. We defended our goal magnificently."

The evening also felt significant for Bruno Guimaraes, not only after scoring the winner but also after helping drag the team over the line to an important victory. Howe said: "Bruno’s been brilliant for us. He stands up in the big moments."

Howe will need Bruno to put his best foot forward again on the hallowed Wembley turf as the quality levels move up tenfold. But for the first time in weeks, Howe was able to speak openly about the clash against the Reds.

He said: "These games, we learned this last time, can be quite a long wait, everyone talking about it, but you have massive games ahead. Pleased it's here, hopefully we can perform well.

"Even if it is that kind of game (like West Ham) against Liverpool, if we defend in the manner we did at West Ham, we know we’ve got the quality to score. Monday night was the perfect example.

"We'll focus fully on Liverpool now. We'll take everything into consideration. I felt we were in need of a win to go into the final with a real boost and lift."

Another talking point from Howe's presser was about the "new look left-side" on display in Stratford. With Lewis Hall's season curtailed by an ankle injury and Anthony Gordon to miss the game against Liverpool then Brentford, Howe has had to field Tino Livramento at left-back and use Harvey Barnes in place of the ex-Everton man.

He reflected: "Harvey did very well today. Lovely cross. Tino looked good at left-back. I thought Harvey (Barnes) had his moments and his assist for the goal was a top-quality cross. He's capable of those decisive moments. So really pleased for him and Bruno to get the goal."