Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth has heaped praise on head coach Eddie Howe.

The two are working together to ensure the Magpies can build a squad to challenge the best in the Premier League in the coming years.

While they still have a lot of work to do, Ashworth is impressed by the early job done by Howe since taking from Steve Bruce around this time last season.

He told theDaily Mail on Howe: “Eddie is fundamentally a really good person - his values, work ethic, how he interacts with the players.

“His empathy and emotional intelligence are really high and he's someone I share similar values with. I sincerely hope him and I work together for a long period of time and take the club where we want to get to."