Newcastle United made it through to the third round of the League Cup and now face Crystal Palace at home following the pitchside draw at Prenton Park. Howe was delighted with a home tie with Newcastle's season alive in this competition until early November when the next stage takes place.
The Toon boss spoke of his dreams of leading Newcastle to a cup victory and being the first man since Joe Harvey to guide the Magpies to silverware. And while previous bosses have played down the prospect of winning something - with some even fielding reserve sides in the League Cup - Howe is the opposite.
The 44-year-old has been using the club's internal communication system to feed players stats on Newcastle's history - including how long it's been since the club actually won something. Bearing in mind it has been 67 years since United last won a domestic trophy and 53 years since the Fairs Cup win, Howe is right to underline the club's lack of success.
READ MORE: Newcastle hope to seal Alexander Isak deal in next 48 hours
Karl Darlow gets on with the job with the minimum of fuss
With Martin Dubravka a potential departure before deadline day, Howe selected Karl Darlow in his place at Tranmere. The official line was that Dubravka was suffering from an illness but it will be no major surprise if he is offloaded next week.
Dubravka isn't happy with being a back-up man and at 33 will feel he has much more to offer than being a back-up man to Nick Pope. Pope's early form has justified Howe's decision to drop Dubravka but his next issue, should the Slovakia star leave, will be more straight-forward.
Darlow is more than capable of filling the void and showed what he could do with an ice cool performance at Tranmere. Despite being on the end of a horror challenge by Kane Hemmings he kept his nerve to make some important saves and claims against the League Two side.
Darlow even made his way over to Hemmings in the second half to discuss the challenge again. If Dubravka goes, Darlow will fight Pope for the No 1 spot and Mark Gillespie will be number three. Former Celtic kid Jude Smith is now the club's fourth choice and travelled with the first-team to Tranmere last night.
Newcastle officials spin plates in VIP suite
The Magpies sent sporting director Dan Ashworth and head of recruitment Steve Nickson to Spain to complete a deal for Aleksander Isak on Monday. But the remaining directors sat in the lounges at the back of the stand at Tranmere working on other business.
Isak is likely to be presented as a Newcastle player in due course but he will be joined by another potential arrival or two. The days of frustration for fans in the transfer window are now over and ambition is back on Tyneside.
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