Eddie Howe feels that Joe Willock's finishing work in training is starting to show on the Premier League stage again this season.
Willock famously netted seven goals in seven Premier League matches for Newcastle during a loan stint from Arsenal in 2021 to help earn a permanent move to St James' Park. He broke his duck for the season in the 4-1 win at Southampton and now finds himself on another run after bagging the winner against Chelsea.
Howe was asked by reporters if he was unluckily not part of the conversation for England at the World Cup and whether he knew if he'd been on Gareth Southgate's 55-man list for the finals in Qatar.
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Howe said: "I've got no idea whether he was or wasn't. What do I think of Joe? I rate him very, very highly. He's another player, for me, that's continued to improve this season.
"He's got really, really good qualities. The physical effort from our midfield five was very, very high today – he performed a vital part in that."
Howe is hoping to see more of the same from Willock after the World Cup break. With Willock now established as one of Howe's starting midfield trio, alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Sean Longstaff, Howe added: "He does have goals in him – I have said that all the time I have been working with Joe. He's a goalscorer, he is potentially a goal creator.
"The way he took his goal today is something we see quite regularly in training from him, so I'm delighted for him personally because he's kept going. I know he was disappointed not to score earlier in the season, but two from two, I'm really pleased for him."
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