Eddie Howe now shares what the ‘standout negative’ has been of Newcastle’s season so far

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Newcastle United head to Nottingham Forest on Sunday with some renewed confidence.

Indeed, while large parts of this season have been a tough watch for Newcastle fans, wins over Chelsea and Arsenal have raised morale of late.

Though Forest are flying high and will certainly offer a stern test, Eddie Howe’s side arrive at the City Ground in good form.

The one major concern, however, is Newcastle’s record on the road. They have won only once away from home all season and that was an unconvincing three points at struggling Wolves.

Forest, meanwhile, have won their last two home games.

To go there and win would be a statement of intent from Newcastle and a fine way to enter the international break. In order to do so, though, they will have to improve away from St James’ Park.

Even last season, Newcastle won only six of their away games in the Premier League and fell to defeat 11 times, with only Brentford, Luton and Sheffield United amassing a worse record.

Eddie Howe shares what has been the major negative for Newcastle this season

Speaking ahead of their trip to Forest, Howe revealed that his team’s performance away at Fulham in September was the “standout negative” of the season thus far.

Newcastle lost 3-1 away at Craven Cottage, a game described as “awful” by club legend Alan Shearer.

“Our away performances have been a slightly mixed bag,” he said (via The Northern Echo).

“So, the consistency hasn’t been absolutely what we want it to be.

“The Fulham game is a standout negative for me, where we didn’t perform at any level. I think the other games we’ve seen really good bits within the games and then some inconsistent moments within the same game.

“And I think to win on the road, you have to have that solidity and that energy and everything that we always speak about in terms of our best performances, we need to see it there right from minute one, especially against the teams that are in form and doing well.”

Eddie Howe has made his new target at Newcastle very clear indeed

Naturally, the Newcastle United manager is hardly going to come out and publicly reveal what exactly his targets for the season are.

Still, he has opened up and shared that instilling some consistency into his team is a major goal for the season.

If he is to do that, away performances need to improve. Sort that out – which is easier said than done of course – and Newcastle can really push towards the upper echelons this season.