EDDIE Howe was delighted at his side's "ruthless" streak in the sensational 8-0 rout of Sheffield United - and said the record-equalling win was Newcastle back at their best.

The Magpies ran riot at Bramall Lane, equalling their biggest ever Premier League win against the hapless Blades and celebrated a Premier League first with eight different goalscorers on target.

On the back of a much-needed win at home to Brentford last week and a hard-fought draw in Milan in the Champions League, Howe said it had been a "great week" for his side.

And what most pleased the head coach at Bramall Lane was the fact his side didn't take their foot off the gas and kept pushing for more goals.

Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn and Sven Botman were on target in the first half before Callum Wilson, Anthony Gordon, Miguel Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak scored after the break.

Howe said: "It's been a great week for us. That's football for you. Before the Brentford game we knew the importance of that game. We got a massive point in the week and it was great to see us return to us at our very best.

"I never doubted us in the final third. We have some outstanding players. We've had some very tough fixtures, but today we were ruthless and kept looking to score.

"We respect Sheffield United and Paul Heckingbottom but just had to do our thing. We weren't aware of anything (records) during the game, it was just a case of trying to push and keep looking to score, to keep that desire and mentality that we want in every game.

"After such a difficult week physically and emotionally, it was great to see that not affect us."

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There was one concern for Newcastle, with Harvey Barnes forced off injured early on.

Howe said:  "It doesn't look too good. I think he has a toe problem. He pushed off and felt something in his toe. Early signs are there's probably an injury there, but we don't know what it is at the moment."

When Newcastle were celebrating their third goal, a bottle thrown from the stands where Sheffield United's fans were situated appeared to hit Elliot Anderson.

Howe said: "Elliot has not spoken to me about it. I did see things being thrown, which isn't what we want to see. My thought initially was just for the welfare of the players."