Eddie Howe is hungry for continuity from his Newcastle squad as they gear up for the Carabao Cup quarter-final bout with Brentford, following a resounding Premier League victory over Leicester.

The Magpies rebounded impressively from their 4-2 league loss to the Bees last weekend by doling out a commanding 4-0 defeat to Ruud van Nistelrooy's Foxes, setting the stage for a chance at redemption against Brentford in Wednesday's encounter at St James' Park.

The inconsistency that plagued Newcastle shone through after their set-back at the Gtech Community Stadium, swiftly on the heels of an electrifying 3-3 draw with table-toppers Liverpool.

When questioned about the magnitude of Saturday's triumph given the circumstances, head coach Howe said: "Yes, it's a big win. It's a big win for a lot of reasons, but I think this week with two home games and the importance of both games, to start well gives us a massive lift.

"It was important we responded to the Brentford performance in the right way - I thought we did. Right from the start of the game, I thought we looked engaged, mentally switched on, able to give a really good athletic performance and technical performance.

"I thought we had a bit of everything today, good attacking, good defending. I think there were a lot of positive responses to the disappointment of last week."

Jacob Murphy was the star of the show as he delivered a stunning brace in a match where Newcastle United reigned supreme, with Eddie Howe singing his praises post-match.

The Magpies boss lauded Murphy's versatility and commitment, saying: "He's a really valuable player because wherever you put him or whatever you ask him to do, he does it to the best of his ability."

Despite the victory, there is concern for Newcastle as Howe confirmed goalkeeper Nick Pope is set for a spell on the sidelines: "He saw the specialist and the feedback is that he's going to be out for around a month, so bad timing for us and for Nick because there are a lot of games in that four-week period."

On the other side, Van Nistelrooy took his first defeat as Leicester boss but remained philosophical, reflecting on the learning curve and the Premier League's unforgiving nature: "From defeat, you're always going to learn more. We also spoke about the thin margins in the Premier League, where everything has to be right to get results.

"We managed to do so in two home games. Today in the set-up, what we said before the game, in the structure on the ball, things have to improve.

"It was better in the second half, you could see some spells of what we wanted, but it was too little too late."