Eddie Howe has underlined the importance of heading off into an international break on the back of a Premier League win.
The Magpies have not triumphed since the opening day of the season against Nottingham Forest in the top-flight and will not play again until October 1 away to Fulham ahead of the final international fixtures before the World Cup. Having played three away games in seven days then a home game against Crystal Palace, United have now had a two-week break following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Howe said: "It's a key stage, because we've gone from a period where we had game after game in a really short period of time, and how with the break last week we'll have one game in four weeks. So that one game you have in that spell, you want it to be a good one.
