EDDIE Howe can appreciate more than most just how remarkable a journey Luton Town have been on.

Newcastle's head coach has faced a string of setbacks on Tyneside of late, with his side having been knocked out of both the Champions League and the Carabao Cup in dramatic circumstances, and a lengthy injury list contributing to inconsistent Premier League form.

But Howe has faced and come through greater challenges in his career, both at Newcastle and elsewhere. Howe was the rookie head coach at Bournemouth, who were deducted 17 points at the bottom of League Two at the start of the 2008/09 season, while today's opponents Luton were docked 30 points.

Howe led the Cherries to safety, enough in itself for him to become a legend on the south coast before even considering the unthinkable climb that followed. But survival was far too big an ask for Luton, who dropped out of the Football League, making their current presence in the top flight all the more remarkable.

"Fifteen years, that makes me sound really old. Dear, dear," laughed Howe.

"It was an incredible time, both teams were hit with points deductions, bleak times for both clubs and really unsure of the future.

"I'm sure Luton were the same as Bournemouth at the time where you're thinking is there going to be a tomorrow, is the football club going to exist? We had a different journey and were able to survive, they went out of the Football League and that will have been a really difficult time for them.

"Gradually they've built through the leagues and to see them now in the Premier League, to see Bournemouth and Luton in the Premier League is something I didn't think would happen from that point all those years ago. Both clubs deserve a lot of credit."

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While survival is obviously the priority for today's hosts, Newcastle are looking to build on last season's achievements, though are now just fighting on two fronts after their recent double exit.

That has led to some external suggestions that the Magpies will potentially under-achieve this season, but Howe doesn't see it that way.

“My discussions with everyone connected with the football club here and the running of the football club, there’s never been that pressure of this season or next season in terms of positions in the league and expectations to win competitions," he said.

"That’s all come from us internally. Of course, there’s an ambition, but there’s a difference, I think, between an ambition and a target that’s on your back.

“Everyone here wants to see growth. They want to see growth in the team, they want to see improvement and of course then longer term, those thoughts, I’m sure, will change to tangible targets and to set things that we have to do.

“But at this moment in time, we started from such a low base that we’re just trying to build and we’ve built really quickly.

“For my mind, we want to increase that speed, everything has to come tomorrow, but there needs to be a realisation of where we’re at also.

“I believe that we can achieve great things. I believe in the squad, I believe in the characters within the squad, so I’ve got a delicate balance. But then externally, I don’t want to put pressure on the players.

“I want them to play in a really good environment, I want them to be able to express themselves and then internally at the club, we then need a realisation that we’re still building, we’re still very early in the journey.”

Newcastle were half an hour away from the last 16 of the Champions League and just 90 seconds shy of reaching the last four of the Carabao Cup.

Howe said "It's a really good example of how close you can be and how cruel football sometimes can be. We've had to absorb those hits, there's no hiding place from it.

"You feel the pain, you take the hits and get back up and go again, and that's what we're in the process of doing.

"But amongst that, we have to be mindful of the fact we're still in a very good position in the Premier League, we can't lose that.

"It's very easy to slide into negative thinking, let's have positive thinking. I know it's easy for me to say but these next group of games are really important for us because January looks difficult on paper but they're great games for us. If we can get some good results between then and now then I think we'll be in a great position."