"The size of the task remains what it is, I just hope the game doesn’t damage our players’ confidence. The next group of games could potentially be season-defining.
"Giving them the confidence to execute is the challenge I face. It’s a good group of players with a good attitude but we have to take this defeat on the chin and come back again."
It is almost impossible to recall the despair which dominated chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan's last visit to St James' Park on January 8. Eddie Howe's side had won just once in all competitions, but the signing of Kieran Trippier would prove to be the first of five key additions that month.
