Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was delighted with their friendly win against Real Valladolid on Saturday.

Following eight victories in nine competitive games in all competitions before the break, Howe admitted it was 'hugely important' to continue to win when, in a previous era, these exhibition games were not taken quite so seriously.

"The character of the players is so important," the Newcastle boss told reporters after the match. "These games are not always easy. You've got to try and generate the mentality from within that you want to perform well and you want to win, and I thought the players carried that through really well.

"They're different games to competitive games - just, naturally, psychologically, they are different - but the players managed themselves really well. There was some really good football and we could have scored more."