HARVEY BARNES might have claimed the match-winning plaudits, but Eddie Howe was quick to praise goalkeeper Nick Pope after Newcastle United’s 2-1 win at Wolves.

Pope made two crucial second-half saves to ensure Newcastle were able to claim all three points at Molineux.

The goalkeeper kept out Jorgen Strand Larsen’s near-post strike as he flung out his left hand, before tipping Matheus Cunha’s goal-bound shot around the post in stoppage time.

Pope has spent the last two weeks on international duty, but did not feature in either of England’s Nations League games against Ireland and Finland.

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Howe said: “I’m really pleased for Nick. Whenever a player goes away on international duty, it’s always a different dynamic.

“With the players that we keen here, we can really focus on what they’re doing and we’re in tune with their performances.

“When players go away, they miss our contact time and there’s always that trust about how they’re going to come back.

“But you can see how Nick has come back, and the effect he has on the team. He made two or three great saves that ultimately end up helping us win the game. He’s a top-class goalkeeper and I’m delighted for him.”

Howe also praised Fabian Schar, who capped his return from a three-match suspension with the deflected long-range strike that enabled Newcastle to draw level in the second half.

He said: “It (Schar’s goal) was what we needed. We’d had a few moments, but we hadn’t had the clear sight of goal we would have wanted.

“It was maybe going to take something like that, a long-range effort, speculative to a degree, but Fabby has the quality to score those type of unbelievable goals for a centre-half. It’s another one to add to his collection, and that gave us a lift and changed the dynamic and the mood in the stadium. It was an absolutely pivotal moment in the game.”