What senior Newcastle player has now privately said about defeat to Brighton earlier this season

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Newcastle have had a roller-coaster campaign so far, having hit top form despite a crisis start to the season.

After losing three of the opening four Premier League games this season, Newcastle are now top of the Champions League group and are unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions.

This run has also seen them beat Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, and the team are flying in spite of a few injury problems.

After Newcastle were beaten 3-1 by Brighton in September, many may have wondered whether the players felt they were in a crisis, but it now appears that they remained calm to ride out the storm.

Newcastle did not panic in adversity

A report from The Athletic has now revealed that in the aftermath of the Brighton defeat, the playing squad were not fazed by their form at the start of the campaign.

An unnamed player from the squad has privately admitted that despite losing three matches in a row, no alarm bells were ringing, as Eddie Howe’s side backed themselves to turn it around.

“There was no crisis meeting or anything,” the unnamed player stated.

“Internally we know how good we are, so there was no panic.”

Strong management to thank?

Eddie Howe’s entire Newcastle spell has been unchartered territory for both him and the squad. Taking over a side in a relegation battle and helping them reach the Champions League has meant there have been varying expectations throughout.

Whilst their form at the start of the season would have been par for the course a few years ago, trying to raise the level, and subsequently the pressure, meant that it may have been easy to panic and drastically change tactics or team selections following the defeats.

Howe stuck with his principles, clearly encouraged his players to remain composed, and has now reaped the rewards, with his squad retaining their confidence in adversity and are now flourishing.