Sven Botman was pleased with Newcastle's pre-season win over Athletic Club Bilbao to make it two wins in two days for the Magpies. It was the Dutch U-21 international's first appearance at St. James' Park after arriving at the club earlier this summer.
It's a solid end to pre-season preparations for Eddie Howe's side, who saw off Atalanta on Friday evening. The Magpies will now have one week of training before the Premier League curtain raiser against Nottingham Forest.
"Of course, it's very good for our confidence - yesterday and today as well," Botman told NUFC.co.uk "I think we are ready for the season. It's always nice to get a 1-0 early in the game. I think we controlled the first-half very well and played really good positionally and defending good as a team.
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"I think second-half it was difficult, we made it good [to get to] 2-0 but at 2-1 we lost control and it's definitely something we need to work on. I'm looking at the positives, today we won and we played a very good first-half. We just need to control and continue with this level from the first-half.
"After pre-season you always have things you need to work on. It's good that we see it now and talk about it to be ready for the first game. They were a very good opponent and have good players as well.
"It was a good test. I think you can compare them with Premier League teams. There was a lot of running behind, the tempo was high in the first-half. The second-half I think everybody was a bit tired, it dropped a little bit - also from their side."
It was a solid display from the Dutch centre-half and he was taken aback by the support against the La Liga outfit.
"I enjoyed it a lot - it's amazing," said Botman. "I think if you ask me one club that has a full stadium in a friendly game, I don't think I could tell you. Newcastle is one, it's crazy and great to feel the atmosphere and play here.
"I enjoyed it and I was looking in the stadium and realising what was happening and enjoyed the moment. We have a long pre-season and the best thing is to be in the season with a lot of games. I always prefer league games so I'm looking forward to it."
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