EDDIE HOWE felt his Newcastle United side produced their “best display of the season” as they held Premier League leaders Manchester City to a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park.

Howe had called for a reaction in the wake of last weekend’s defeat at Fulham, claiming he and the rest of his staff ‘did not like ourselves’ at Craven Cottage.

His players delivered, with Anthony Gordon’s second-half penalty cancelling out Josko Gvardiol’s first-half opener to secure Newcastle a point.

“I thought it was a really good performance from us, in both halves,” said Howe. “I thought we committed and we were brave against a very difficult team to press high up the pitch. I think we managed to find a way to get to them.

“It’s our best display of the season, there’s no doubt about that for me, with and without the ball. It’s also probably the most competitive we’ve been against Manchester City as well. Even in the 3-3 draw, I thought we had a bit more control today than we had in that game. It’s really good signs for us.”

Howe conducted an extensive post-match debrief in the wake of the Fulham game, questioning his players’ desire, work-rate and attitude.

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There was a marked improvement against Manchester City, with Newcastle’s players pressing high up the field and aggressively taking the game to their opponents.

“I think that’s one of the beauties of this game,” said Howe. “Hopefully, you always get another chance to put something right and leave a much better imprint of what you’re about.

“Today, we did do that. We leave the pitch not having won the game, but with our heads held high. It was a much better representation of what we’re about, now the challenge is to find that consistently.

“There’s no better game to do that with than the cup game in a midweek, it’s a great challenge for us to try to progress again in another important cup competition and set really high standards in terms of our attitude.”

Howe felt Gordon’s performance set the tone for the rest of the side, with the winger giving his all as a central striker in the absence of the injured Alexander Isak.

“Anthony epitomised that spirit and determination to be aggressive,” said Howe. “I thought his work he got through was really impressive. His big long-distance runs proved he’s getting back to his very best in terms of fitness levels, so I was really pleased with him.

“Then the team backed that up. It’s not easy to do because they’re so good at what they do, but I thought everyone to a man put in a really good shift.”