The 1-1 draw away at West Ham was another statement of intent from Newcastle United in their battle for Premier League survival.
Joe Willock’s first-half equaliser made it six games unbeaten for the Magpies after Craig Dawson had opened the scoring at the London Stadium.
Victories for both Burnley and Watford below Eddie Howe’s side made the point even more important as the four-point gap to the relegation zone was maintained.
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It made it 12 points from Newcastle’s last six games, a run which has them sixth in the Premier League form table and on the rise.
While supporters are not allowing themselves to get too carried away, the earlier fears of a drop into the Championship are rapidly fading.
The feeling that they will be able to secure their top-flight safety in the next few months is growing amongst pundits as well as fans as Joe Cole and Jermaine Jenas both believe there is now nothing worry about on Tyneside.
The latter was particularly impressed by what he saw from the visitors at the London Stadium and could hardly have been more complimentary of the decisions made by Howe.
“Honestly I thought they were incredible today,” he said on BT Sport’s coverage of the match.
“Every single one of them was brilliant on the pitch and I thought Eddie Howe got the team right. That is one of the biggest results Eddie Howe had since he took over the job.
“To come here and play in the manner they did and take the point with all the things going against them before the game. It’s a testament to the job he is doing.
“They put in the effort and got a huge result for the football club.”
Cole was equally as impressed by Newcastle’s performance against his former club with the improvements under Howe’s tutelage the basis of his praise.
“Eddie has come in here and changed the culture,” he added. “They looked so fragile two months ago and he’s come in and first put work in on the training pitch then bought good players.
“The players were running through brick walls for each other. I don’t think there’s any danger that Newcastle go down. Today they thoroughly deserved their point.”
Not only are the recent performances under Howe encouraging for the rest of this season, but they also provide plenty of optimism for next term.
It looks increasingly likely as though his next campaign in charge will be another Premier League one and, with even more squad improvement expected in the summer, there could be real excitement in the North-east come July and August.
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