Howe: This can be a launchpad

EDDIE HOWE insisted his Newcastle side can use their FA Cup win over Sunderland as a launchpad for the rest of the season.

Victory over their local rivals gave them a first win in five games and a first Tyne-Wear derby success for Newcastle since 2011.

‘We were very professional. We took control and had our extra gear back today,’ said Newcastle boss Howe. ‘It’s hopefully a launchpad for our season. That’s how we want to look at it. We’ve not just won but performed well. It’s really important that the confidence levels return to what they were at the start of the season. We were playing some brilliant football at times and the aim is to get back to that.’

And Howe admitted that his side’s experience in the Champions League this season helped them to deal with the atmosphere at a raucous Stadium of Light.

‘I don’t think it was too dissimilar to Milan or PSG and the other places we’ve been to this season so those experiences helped, said Howe. ‘Without downplaying it, it was a normal day for us. We were here to do a job and thankfully we’ve done it.’

Sunderland manager Michael Beale admitted that the gulf in quality between the two teams yesterday was too much.

An experienced Newcastle side eased to victory to progress to the fourth round for the first time in four years.

‘Let’s be honest, there was a gap between the two teams when we arrived at the stadium and we tried to close that gap over the 90 minutes and we weren’t able to do that. The big thing for us is being honest and not hiding away from the fact there is a gap,’ Beale said.

‘In the first half, for the most part, I thought we defended ok, but in possession we weren’t tidy enough and didn’t show enough quality to throw any punches at Newcastle.

‘We went in at half-time, spoke about being bold, made a couple of changes to get people higher up the pitch and bring the back four higher but then we had the worst possible start to the second half —that’s clear for everyone to see.’