Now emerging from a major form slide, doubts were raised about Howe's position during the slump.
Ahead of tonight's Champions League playoff first-leg at Qarabag, Elanga stated: "We play for the coach. He has given us so much confidence and he’s helped every single one of us so much.
"We know we haven’t been perfect. There have been times when we’ve played really well and it is just consistency.
“Our two recent away games we’ve won, so it’s about building momentum. It’s important we continue to play for the manager because he’s helped us so much.
“It’s up to us to just keep letting our football do the talking.”
He added: “Qarabag are not going to be easy. But we are very ambitious and we want to go as far as we possibly can.
“Hopefully we can put on a performance for the fans that have come here.”