Howe admits Newcastle fans will be dreaming of PL title challenge

Howe's side climbed to second place thanks to a first half goal blitz at the King Power Stadium. Chris Wood's penalty, a sublime Miguel Almiron effort and Joelinton's strike gave Newcastle a three-goal by the 32nd minute in their first top-flight match since the World Cup break.

Howe was delighted to see Newcastle's pre-World Cup momentum was not affected by the pause for the tournament in Qatar. It has been a brilliant start to the campaign for the Magpies and Howe knows Newcastle fans, who have been starved of success for decades, are beginning to dream of ending their long wait for silverware.

"My attitude won't change to that. I have no problems with the supporters dreaming and talking and speculating about what we can achieve and no doubt the media will, I can't control that," Howe said. "The only think we need to be mindful of internally is just focus on what we can control and our own thoughts and actions and how we train and how we prepare.

"And not look too far ahead and not listen to too much news and media and just focus on our training and make sure we focus on it game by game. This is the toughest league in the world for a reason and our opposition no doubt will be watching us and preparing for us, so we have to be ready." For the first time since Kevin Keegan's reign in the 1990s, Newcastle find themselves in the thick of the title race.