There was to be no team photograph in the dressing room, but there was a lap of appreciation of a different kind at full-time. Whereas Newcastle United supporters had been used to serenading a winning side in all four of their previous home games, this time, thousands stayed behind to applaud the players off the field in defeat as they chanted: "Eddie Howe's black-and-white army!" It was a timely show of support that gave the group a lift.
Kieran Trippier stressed: "We can't let this result affect us" and it is now up to the players to bounce back as they so often have under Eddie Howe. This team never tend to get too high after a win or too low after a defeat and that measured response will never be important with just four games to go in the race for the Champions League.
"I don't doubt the quality and the character," Howe told reporters. "The character is there. It's been there. It's been evident to me.
