Howe bows out on far left (thanks to Neal Smith)

Eddie Howe said:
 

"I thought it was a really good test for us. The scoreline’s a difficult one for us to take. I don’t think we deserved that at all today. I think anyone who watched the game would have seen that we were very competitive today. The goals we conceded were strange ones.

"The first one’s a long-range free kick. It was a good strike from their lad, I think it took a slight deflection on the way in. Second one, I think is a foul on Sven (Botman). Third one, we made a mistake and got counter-attacked on, and the fourth one’s an own goal.

"So, I think they’ve had six shots in the game, they’ve scored four goals.

"The majority of the game I think we had control of with the ball. We probably didn’t do enough with it in terms of creativity and chances, although we certainly should have scored more than the one we got.

"Ideally, you don’t want to lose. I mean, I’m not saying that we’re happy to lose – we’re not. We wanted to win the game. But you do want a test – you don’t want the games to be too easy.

"We knew coming here with the squad that we have and the current state of their physical well-being, in terms of we haven’t trained for too long compared to a Championship team who no doubt will be a week to two weeks ahead of us. We knew it’d be very difficult.

"We felt we’d probably be strong enough to do better than we did in terms of scoreline, but I’m really pleased the players came through extended minutes. Fitness levels looked pretty good, and we’ll be better for the game.

"I actually thought it was a pretty strong performance, despite the fact that the goals we conceded were bizarre. Pre-season is to get out all the rustiness of the summer, to get the players to a position where, when the team faces Liverpool, they're ready.

"Every day that I'm Newcastle manager is a great day for me. I absolutely love the football club and that will never change."

On Bruno Guimaraes:

"Any distraction, if it's not healthy, is unhealthy.

"So, yes, it would be negative for things to drag on but we’re not in control of that. And to some degree, I don’t think Bruno's in control of that either.

"What will be, will be. We can't control the forces that are at play here, we've just got to make sure that when Bruno comes back, we look after him and he trains well, which I’m sure he will do. And he makes a difference as he always has done.

"We've spoken numerous times. Assurances? I don't think you can push too hard for those.

"I've said many times we want players who are committed and Bruno has always been committed. His training performances and his game performances have been outstanding, every time he's worn the shirt, he's played with the fans by his side. I'd love to see that continue.

"The details I don't actually know but I don’t see any reason why he wouldn't be back (for training) on Friday.

"We want to keep all of our best players. They’re so valuable. I’ve said numerous times, there’s not many of them, so to get them and develop them, when you have them, you want to keep them. Bruno’s very much in that category, he’s an outstanding player.”